The Transfer
by Malindorie
Summary: Mai Taniyama's transfer application to Cambridge University says she wants to study Parapsychology. Not on the application: a secret transfer that will bring Mai and Naru together and simultaneously tear them apart. Japan's SPR follows Naru to England...
1. Chapter 1

AN: Aah, first Ghost Hunt story! I believe in long stories, lots of detail, and updating regularly:) And SPOILER ALERTS FOR VOLUME 12!

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. If I did, the manga would still be going and Naru and Mai would be having lots of little ghost hunter babies by now;)

* * *

><p><strong>The Transfer<br>**

**-0O0-  
><strong>

**Chapter 1**

Professor Martin Davis chuckled delightedly as he skimmed over the paper in front of him. It was the third time he'd read it today.

His wife and son were both staring at him. It was indeed strange that that Professor Davis was reading at the dinner table – his wife Luella had long ago expressed her distaste for such an action. Dinner was time for family. Luella cleared her throat in reprimand – and Martin snapped the binder before him shut with alacrity.

"Sorry, dear," Martin offered, placing the binder on the table. "I was just so caught up in this paper on conscious spiritual aura manipulation." His family continued to stare; his son raised an eyebrow. Ah, he had piqued Noll's interest. Martin grinned inwardly. "You know it's the time of year that I accept transfer undergraduates. Last week, I received applications from two Tokyo University students. One is a sophomore and the other is in her first year of undergraduate study. They have top grades and are both majoring in both Religious Studies and Psychology."

"Obviously, their studies are geared toward future study of Parapsychology," Noll interrupted, looking down at his plate. He pushed his fork around listlessly.

Luella frowned; Noll wasn't eating properly _again_.

"Obviously," Martin agreed with a smile. "Their applications were stellar, of course, but what really interested me was this paper that they sent. The two of them co-authored it, and well, it's excellent. The research, the topic, the conclusions – all laid out in proper scientific format, just as you recommended in one of your books, Noll. _Supernatural Systems_. Which they reference, by the way." His son nodded, still looking away.

"Anyway," Martin continued, "The paper is about aura recognition and manipulation. The students theorize that a spiritual adept can suppress their observable aura – in other words, a psychic who is sensitive to spiritual auras can train themselves to become 'spiritually invisible' to others." Noll looked up then, focusing on his father with laser accuracy.

"This is useful, the students allege, when investigating a paranormal disturbance, as it gives the investigator the opportunity to slow the action. As paranormal occurrences tend to increase with the presence of psychics, the sudden lack of observable psychic presence can calm the spirits. The students include that aura suppression also allows psychics to 'take a break' from ghosts – as sensitives will usually be sought out by the ghosts, oppressed psychics need a break to reflect on the case, or even just to sleep." Martin paused, sensing that his son wanted to interject.

He was right. "And how exactly are they testing this hypothesis?" Noll asked, eyebrow up again.

"In the field, apparently." Martin grinned. "My two new transfer students are extracurricular ghost hunters. One of them is a psychic, and she has reportedly developed the ability to control her aura as laid out in the paper. Both she and her co-author have been monitoring the use of her abilities for the last year, and the paper includes some lovely graphs and findings reports."

Noll raised his other eyebrow. "You've decided to admit them, then?"

"Of course!" Martin affirmed, nodding vigorously. "Easily the most qualified candidates of the year and one of them looks to be a promising psychic. I could probably convince her to come to SPR for some testing…"

"So you want this girl to be a guinea pig?" Luella questioned, danger in her tone. She had made her opinion of Martin's researching their sons very clear in the past.

"Well, darling, she'll be my student, which is her aim," Martin defended. "And odds are, with all this research that she and her cohort are doing, she'll want to come to SPR anyway. The 'R' does stand for Research, you know."

"He's right," Noll said unexpectedly. He almost never got involved in these arguments. "They are researchers themselves – working with SPR is probably one of the reasons they want to come to England. There's no reason not to offer a psychic the chance to test with some of the world's leading paranormal researchers." Dark blue eyes focused intensely on the wall opposite, where Martin's and Noll's framed degrees were displayed.

"Hmm, like yourself?" Luella wondered, her frown disappearing. If her son was actually interested in researching these students, well, she was all for it. Noll had been even more apathetic than usual since… well, since returning from Japan almost two years ago. Luella had originally chalked it up to mourning for Gene, but her heart told her that Noll's unhappiness was caused by something else. Especially as Lin and Madoka had intimated that Noll had behaved more freely and actively while in Japan.

"Yes," Noll said decisively, surprising both of his parents. "If it's worth my time. Japan had quite a lot of paranormal activity with diverse and interesting causes. It is possible that spiritualists from Japan would similarly interest me."

Martin and Luella exchanged a glance. Noll was showing some spirit. Victory!

"I shall make sure that you meet them, then," Martin replied.

He opened the binder again and found the title page. _Spiritual Aura Manipulation and its Effect on Paranormal Investigation_, he read silently. He smiled as he read the byline. The names of his two newest students were typed in English, but were written Japanese-style, with last names first.

_Taniyama Mai and Yasuhara Osamu_, mused Professor Davis. _Welcome to Cambridge_.

-0O0-_  
><em>

_A few days later in Japan..._

_-0O0-  
><em>

Taniyama Mai squealed as she read over the letter. "Yasu!" she cried, running into the kitchen. Bou-san and Yasuhara were setting the table while Ayako finished cooking dinner.

"Good news?" Yasu asked, lips grinning and glasses flashing.

"Yes!" Mai replied, waving the letter from Cambridge University. "We got into the program!"

Yasuhara's grin widened, Bou-san jumped up to hug her, and Ayako smiled indulgently.

"'Congratulations and welcome to the program! I look forward to seeing both of you in England during the Easter term,' " Mai read aloud to the room.

"Easter term?" Ayako asked, confused.

"The third term of the academic year at Cambridge," Yasuhara clarified. "Davis-sensei must realize that Japan's academic year ends in the spring, so the earliest we can come to England is during the Easter term, which begins toward the end of April."

"But isn't it odd that the two of you would start academic work at the end of the year?" Ayako wondered.

"Well, we're not," Mai replied, "There's more." She went back to the acceptance letter. "'Of course, you two won't be enrolled in classes until October, but I'm sure that it will take some time to become acclimated to English life. Plus, I would like time to gauge your obvious psychic talents and researching capabilities firsthand.' "

Yasuhara grinned. "A fellow research nut, just my type."

Mai glared. "Yasu, don't you dare go fake-flirting with our new professor. It took Bou-san eons to be really comfortable around you again, and we can't have that happening at Cambridge."

Yasu sighed. "Of course not, Mai-chan. Besides…" his eyes took on a mischievous glint again, "Why would I flirt with Naru's father when Naru himself will be so close?"

Mai almost threw the letter at him, but decided it was too precious to waste on momentary revenge. Instead, she picked up a soup spoon and threw it at Yasu's grinning face.

He ducked sideways, but Mai was prepared. She threw her gloved hand forward and motioned to the side. The spoon's trajectory changed just enough to whack Yasu on the forehead.

As the spoon clattered to the floor, Bou-san burst into laughter. Yasu looked up. "Ow," he said, "But your control has really improved. And I seem to be right – the stronger your emotions are, the stronger your PK-MT responds."

Bou-san stopped laughing for long enough to nod. "Yeah, he's right, jou-chan. So… once you're in England your control should get much, much better."

Mai stared at her guardian, obviously confused.

"Well," Bou-san started, a nasty grin reminiscent of Yasu's sliding across his face. "With such regular exposure to Naru, your emotions will be rocking and rolling all day long. Anger, frustration, adoration, attraction…"

An unintelligible noise escaped Mai's lips as she launched another spoon across the table. Bou-san didn't even bother to duck, and barely flinched as the spoon bounced off of his chest and hit the floor. He was far too busy laughing with Yasuhara. Ayako, on the other hand, whacked her instigating fiancé with a serving utensil and then glared at Mai.

"Spoons are for eating, not for throwing!" she remonstrated. "You can just go wash them in the sink, now. We're eating in five minutes."

Mai groaned plaintively, but moved around the table to collect the fallen spoons. As she rinsed them in the sink, she glared at her mother-figure. "You know, Ayako, they were being jerks." She nodded toward the men at the table, neither of whom was paying attention anymore. "And shouldn't you be all excited, seeing as Yasu and I just got accepted into an extremely prestigious undergraduate program?"

Ayako locked eyes with her 'almost-daughter,' smiling a little. "I _am_ excited, Mai," she replied mildly. "If you haven't noticed, I cooked the favorite foods of certain new transfer students." Mai looked at the stove, and squealed happily at seeing the nanbanyaki simmering away. Yasu's favorite gyoza were in the next pan, and Ayako's extremely delicious soba soup rounded off the yumminess.

"Besides," Ayako's voice became serious and Mai cringed internally. "You should get all these overreactions to Naru's name over with now. You can't show up on Professor Martin Davis' doorstep and lob a spoon at his son's head."

Mai sighed. "I guess that would be bad manners," she conceded. "But I wonder if he'll even be there when we arrive. I mean, he's probably too_ busy_ to check out his father's new students." Mai grimaced, hearing the bitterness in her tone. "Besides," she added in an airier manner, "It's not like I even really care about seeing him, anyway."

Ayako gave her a soul-piercing look. "You can tell yourself that, Mai, but you do care. Far more than that narcissist deserves." Her mouth twisted a bit. "But it's your heart, and the sooner you accept that you _want_ to see him, the easier it will be to deal with his actual presence."

"Hm," Mai replied, staring at the spoon she was drying. "Whatever." Despite her nonchalant tone, Mai's heart crashed against her ribs.

Ayako rolled her eyes, easily seeing through Mai's detached attitude. Even if Naru wasn't waiting on them to arrive, they'd all meet again sooner or later. Ayako looked over to Mai again, who was now staring out the window with a faraway look in her eyes.

It was going to be one _interesting_ reunion.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Thank you so much for the great response! I'm totally thrilled Anyway, sorry in advance for the cliffhanger; I had to cut it there or the chapter would have been about 20 pages long…

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt.

**Chapter 2 – Airport Revelations**

-0O0-

Naru had no idea how this had happened. Here he was, standing in the Heathrow airport's arrival terminal, waiting for two – no, four – strangers. His father stood beside him, practically bouncing with anticipation. Naru rolled his eyes heavenward – Martin Davis was far too old to be visibly bouncing with excitement.

And of course, another bouncing paranormal investigator flanked Naru (as if making sure he couldn't wander away). Madoka actually seemed more excited than Martin. Which was mystifying. Madoka _was_ an easily excitable woman, Naru knew – but her original reaction to the news of the transfer inductees had been normal. Then all of a sudden, she became practically giddy with glee about the Tokyo University students and had insisted on accompanying the Davises to the airport. She also insisted that he, Naru, be present for their arrival. And of course, his excited father and obliging mother had succumbed to Madoka's negotiating magic.

But the strangest add-on was Lin. _Lin_, who barely left SPR's offices to sleep, was waiting here at the airport. Naru knew that Madoka and Lin were not-so-secretly dating, and he didn't even want to think about the sadistic methods that Madoka could use on her boyfriend to secure his presence at Heathrow, but... Madoka didn't have to convince Lin to come. Lin WANTED to come to the airport.

Naru covertly glanced around the terminal. Just in case the world was coming to an end.

-0O0-

_Three days earlier…_

-0O0-

"Hullo, Martin!" Madoka sang as she waltzed into Dr. Davis' office. "I have a couple of case wrap-ups for you to look at," she continued, pulling thick pink file folders out of her bag. She looked up at her mentor, as he hadn't greeted her yet.

Martin was once again reading through the paper from his two new students, this time marking it up with notes and questions. He finally looked up as Madoka's shadow loomed over the paper.

"Oh, hello, Madoka," he replied cheerily. He noticed the bright pink folders. "Oh, yes, the files. Just put them in my inbox, I'll look at them as soon as I've finished."

"Hmm," Madoka's nosiness came out in full force. "Whatcha reading?"

"A paper by those two students I told you I've found," Martin replied, smiling proudly, "I'm reading it for the sixth time. I'm just writing down some questions I would like to ask them once they've arrived in England."

"Arrived in England?" Madoka repeated curiously. "Where are they coming from?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you! They're from Japan – your own home country, of course! They are both undergraduates at Tokyo University."

"Todai?" Madoka used its nickname. "Wow. One wonderful school to another."

"Yes," Martin said, "And one of them is a potential SPR subject. Definitely a psychic, and she seems to be both powerful and versatile."

"Oh?"

"Yes, uses PK-MT, can see spirits, has post-cognitive dreams, and according to this…" Professor Davis waved the paper, "She can manipulate her spiritual aura. I can't wait until they get here."

Madoka nodded, her own inner researcher happy. Then she remembered. Both Yasu and Mai went to Todai – and Mai had post-cognitive dreams! Madoka still corresponded with Yasu, but they had been too busy to really talk lately. Yasu _had_ said that Mai's powers were 'getting cooler by the day' and that he and Mai had big news – but Madoka had been afraid to ask what the news was. Yasu and Mai spent a lot of time together, and Madoka was worried that it would be a relationship announcement. And that would be terrible for Noll.

Madoka was no fool. She knew that Noll had feelings for his former assistant. No matter how many times he denied it to Madoka, pretended he couldn't hear her, or outright yelled at her to leave it alone, Madoka had seen the less-than-apathetic looks Noll gave Mai when she wasn't looking. She knew that Noll threw himself into danger without a thought when Mai needed help. She knew that SOMETHING had happened between them the night before Noll left Japan. (She never could figure out what, though. Lin didn't know, either.) And she saw how much freer and more… content Noll was in Japan. Especially when Mai was around.

Especially especially when there was tea. When Mai brought Noll tea, Noll's whole manner would change. His body would relax imperceptibly, and he would appear at peace with the world – and 'Noll' and 'at peace' were usually mutually exclusive terms.

Madoka didn't know if Noll realized it – he was after all, as Gene used to say, an idiot scientist. But he had feelings for Mai Taniyama, deep ones, in Madoka's opinion. And he needed to come to terms with them eventually, so that he could track Mai down and tell her. And embrace her passionately. And date her. And propose to her. And marry her. And have lots of little psychic babies. That she could be godmother to. And Madoka would tell the children stories about their parents – embarrassing ones, cute ones, it would be…

"Madoka, come back from Fairyland," her mentor requested loudly. Madoka pulled her thoughts away from story time and back into the office.

"Sorry, boss," she replied abashedly. Then she remembered the Tokyo University conversation.

"Martin," she asked, "What are their names?" She held her breath.

"Oh, yes," Martin Davis smiled, not even having to look it up anymore, "Mai Taniyama and Osamu Yasuhara."

The master ghost hunter squealed.

"Madoka?" Martin asked, looking at his former student as if she'd lost it.

"Oh! I, uh, just think those sound like great names! Great names for parapsychology students!" Madoka covered (badly), not wanting to give them away just yet.

If Martin didn't realize who his new students were – in relation to Noll – then she wasn't going to tell him. She couldn't jeopardize this chance to get the emotionally constipated Oliver Davis and the effervescent Mai Taniyama back in the same country. For an extended period of time. Oh, the possibilities!

Martin was still looking at her strangely.

"Fine, you caught me, I just remembered that Lin and I have a date tonight," Madoka lied (better), smiling at her employer/mentor. She even giggled.

Martin harrumphed, smiling slightly. "Well, don't let me keep you," he said, pulling the case folders out of the inbox.

"I am also excited that the students are coming from Japan," Madoka added, another fantastic possibility popping into her brain. "Martin, do they speak proper English? Maybe I should come with you to the airport, or Noll, maybe, in order to facilitate the introductions."

Martin remembered telling everyone that he was going to pick the teens up at the airport. He remembered Madoka thinking that this was a good plan, one that would show the students he was excited to have them in the program. But… "Taniyama and Yasuhara report that they both speak English well," Martin replied. "Yasuhara especially. He was responsible for a lot of this report's grammar."

Madoka's face fell.

"Taniyama is bringing her adoptive father and his fiancée with her," Martin continued. "They want to be here for a while with Taniyama, making sure everything's alright. Yasuhara and Taniyama will be dorming in campus housing when term starts, but in the meantime, the four of them will be renting an apartment in London."

Her adoptive father and his fiancée… that meant that Bou-san and Ayako were coming. This just kept getting better and better.

"However…" Martin paused. "The adopted parents do speak English, but I don't know how fluently. So, yes, I think that having you there might be very helpful. Good show, Madoka."

Madoka grinned in triumph. But… "And Noll? You said that he actually seems interested in the research opportunity. Why not drag him with us and make him really part of it all?"

Cue Madoka Mori's winning smile.

Martin nodded, pleased at the idea of his son being 'really a part of it all.' He'd become so distant, even while researching…

"I think that's doable, Madoka," he replied, earning a thousand-watt grin from his former student. "You'll need to convince him, you can do it."

"Of course, Martin," Madoka replied, scheming already. _I'll just appeal to Luella!_ "Don't you worry, I'll have Noll there."

She flounced out, breaking into a race walk. She had to get out of Martin's hearing range to use her cell phone. Wait until Lin heard this!

-0O0-

_Back at the airport…_

-0O0-

Naru sighed. Again.

Luella _tsked_ behind him. "Noll, stop sighing already. We don't want the new students to think you don't like them."

Naru rolled his eyes again. "Mother, I do not care what they think about me. Why am I here again?"

Madoka turned to him and grinned. "Because you should be."

Naru glared. "And why is that?"

Madoka only grinned secretively, which irritated Naru even more. On the other side of Madoka, Lin shifted a bit.

"Because we should be," Lin repeated, earning a smile from Madoka and a mystified stare from Naru. Naru opened his mouth to speak, and –

"Martin," Luella said suddenly, "You've never told us their names. How are we going to greet them without knowing their names?"

Madoka sucked in a breath beside Naru.

Absolutely positive that something fishy was going on, Naru turned to his adopted father to hear the answer.

"Oh, of course!" Martin said, slapping his forehead, "I'm sorry. I told Madoka the other day; I hadn't realized that I never told the rest of you."

"Father, now's a good time," Naru intoned, clearly suspicious.

"Yes, yes," Martin replied. His wife glared. "Sorry, darling. The students are named Yasuhara Osamu and Mai Taniyama. And her adoptive parents are called Takigawa Houshou and Ayako Matsuzaki."

Naru thought… Naru had no thoughts. For a full five seconds, his brain was on autopilot. Somewhere inside, some vulgar part of him was screaming silent obscenities. And then he came back to Earth – when a _snap!_ went off next to him.

He turned, still shocked, to see Madoka taking pictures with her cell phone camera. She took another picture as he fully faced her, his eyes wide and face ashen. She actually cackled.

"That was great! Sooo worth it, and now your moment of emotional openness is immortalized for the future!" She grinned and then – as if worried that Naru would take the phone – stowed it quickly in her cavernous bag.

He wouldn't have. He was not recovered enough for such measures. Naru's mind reeled, one name resounding in his head. _Mai Taniyama_… _Mai_… Mai was coming here.

Taniyama Mai was… walking through the gate.

-0O0-

_A bit earlier…_

-0O0-

Mai and Takigawa sighed simultaneously. They were in hour seven of their seemingly endless flight to England, and they had already played through a book of Sudoku, meditated, and played a few games of "I Spy." Yasu, of course, was unflappable as always, busily reading Naru's latest book on residual hauntings. Ayako _had_ been napping, but had been accidentally jostled awake by Takigawa. Which sucked, because now she was really irritable.

"The two of you had better find something quieter to do," the cranky shrine maiden hissed. "If I have to listen to 'I spy' and then forty-seven guesses about whatever 'something brown' might be _one more time_…"

"Oh, come on, Ayako," Bou-san replied in a cajoling voice, "You could play with us!"

"Get bent."

"Yikes." Mai and Bou-san cringed away. Then they locked eyes and both thought about what to do for the next four hours. All of a sudden, Bou-san smirked and winked at Mai. Uh-oh.

"I spy with my little eye…" he began.

"Houshou…" Ayako seethed.

"… something that is currently pink, but is becoming red."

"Huh?" Mai was totally confused, searching the cabin for anything that was changing color.

"The sunset?" Yasu guessed, eyes still moving across the page of his book. Mai envied his ability to multitask.

"Nope," Bou-san grinned. "Nice try."

Mai glanced around the cabin again, but didn't see anything like that. A movement caught her eye. Ayako was visibly shaking in frustration. Bou-san's giggling obviously making it worse. Ayako's face was getting dark with anger… oh!

"Is it Ayako?" Mai guessed brightly. "Cause she just keeps getting redder with rage?"

"Yes!" Bou-san crowed delightedly.

Yasu snickered. A few people behind them giggled.

Ayako snapped.

"Both of you shut up!" she roared. "Next time we have a long flight, I'm drugging both of you! Now Mai, do some freaking reading! Yasu brought, like, EIGHTEEN books on the plane and I'm sure he could spare one!"

Mai opened her mouth to protest, but Ayako just grabbed one from Yasu's carry-on and thrust it into her hands.

"You've learned a lot, Mai, but a little extra knowledge can't hurt! You do want to show Naru who's boss now, right?"

Mai pursed her lips. She was only a lead investigator because she had more free time than the other founders of TTM Psychic Investigations. But she didn't want Naru to dismiss her, either.

Ayako watched a determined expression enter Mai's eyes and smirked. "So start reading."

The teen psychic sighed and cracked open _The Science Behind the Supernatural_.

-0O0-

Mai's arms burned under her long gloves, waking her from a sound sleep. She opened her eyes and rubbed her forearms. The silky material of the gloves slid across her scars, cooling them. The burning sensation was already fading. She wasn't unconsciously using her abilities, was she?

No, the feeling inside her – which Mai knew was her intuition, or 'animal instinct,' as Naru had irrtitatingly dubbed it – told her that it was something else. Some pull on her abilities, some connection… Mai closed her eyes again and tried to trace the connection. She saw a golden spiritual… cord… or something, and followed along it in her mind.

The other end of the cord ended at… Naru. She could see him in her mind, arms folded and eyes glaring ahead. The golden cord went straight to him. Mai gasped and opened her eyes again.

Bou-san was standing beside her in the aisle, pulling his carry-on and Ayako's out of the overhead bin. People were moving all around her. They must have touched down while she was sleeping. She should get up, too.

Mai shifted, _The Science Behind the Supernatural_ moving on her lap. She had gotten about a hundred pages in before falling asleep. She dog-eared her page and pulled her backpack out from under the seat. Mai thrust the book into the backpack and unbuckled her seat belt, stretching happily.

As she closed her eyes and yawned, she saw the golden cord again. Ugh, how could she have forgotten about it? _Why was she so easily distracted? _Mai gritted her teeth, remembering Yasu's theory about her 'animal instincts' affecting other parts of life, like her attention span. Jerk.

Anyway, back to the cord. Mai noticed that the cord was the same gold as her visible PK-MT powers and just like the golden light which accompanied her purifications. Gene had said that the golden color identified Mai's spiritual powers – even those that were, er, _appropriated _later.

So then that would mean that Mai's abilities were connected to Naru. Well, all things considered, that made sense. Mai cringed inwardly, thinking of what Naru's reaction to all this would be, when the truth came out.

Ayako cleared her throat and Mai gazed up at her. Ayako's reaction would be terrible as well, probably. She could hear the yelling now.

Then she realized that Ayako was talking to her. Mai jerked herself out of dreamland to listen.

"… think we're moving, now, Mai," her future adopted mother said. "You should get ready to go."

"I think I'm good," Mai replied, stretching again. She stood up and grabbed her hoodie, pulling it on. Apparently, London was always chilly. And misty. No wonder it was a paranormal hotspot. Gene had once told her that English people also tended to be emotionally repressed in general, which made for lots of suppressed feelings and regrets to fuel an active afterlife. She thought he had been joking – but then again, look at Naru.

"All right, we're moving!" Bou-san cheered.

Mai grinned, checked her seat for anything left behind, and moved out into the aisle. She sucked in a breath, and followed Bou-san toward the front of the plane.

-0O0-

Customs took forever, but eventually their visas were verified and stamped, and the foursome walked toward the arrivals gate. Mai could feel her nerves building with each step she took. She had been confident when she sent in her application; she and Yasu had agreed that coming to England to work with Dr. Davis (Senior) and possibly with the Society for Paranormal Research had been the right idea. There was no parapsychology program at Tokyo University, so they had to look elsewhere.

Moreover, no program in Japan was so focused on the research end of the paranormal – most Japanese spiritualists tended to focus on religion and preserving existing rituals. In order to further their work on the research side of life and better their experimentation methodology, they needed to work with London's much more advanced program. They wanted to verify their theories and hopefully improve Mai's control over her interesting compilation of paranormal abilities.

This was especially important to Bou-san and Ayako, who were always worried about Mai's sometimes uncontrolled abilities combining with her tendency to get into trouble. _Much drama was caused by her and her powers_, Mai mused. Practically every case, something unexpected happened to her. Almost always her.

Even while Mai reassured herself that this transfer to England had been inevitable, her nervousness grew. She could feel herself getting closer to Naru with every footfall. What would she say to him? What would he say to her? After all, the last time they had spoken, Naru had been convinced that Mai was in love with his deceased twin brother. Mai had been confused about her feelings, as well. Then –

"Don't worry, Mai-chan," Yasu whispered, appearing next to her. "I really don't think that Naru will be here tonight. After all, Professor Davis said the other day that he and his wife would be coming to pick us up. He didn't say anyone else. And the Professor didn't sound like he knew that we worked with his son, so I don't think Naru knows we're coming. And Naru isn't the sort to do anything bothersome like coming to greet some of his father's new students at the airport."

Leave it to Yasu to work everything out so systematically. "Yeah, you're right," Mai agreed. "Naru would definitely see coming here as useless."

Yasu laughed lightly. "Yeah, the Big Boss is like that." He glanced at Mai. She smiled and unconsciously relaxed. _Success_, Yasu thought in triumph.

They had almost reached the gate now, and Mai looked out at the waiting people. She searched for Martin Davis, who she had met only briefly when they'd found Gene's body, but whose face she had seen countless times on book jackets and in her own research. She had hugged his wife Luella that night by the lake, but since then, she had only seen Mrs. Davis in articles about the family – Mai remembered her heart lurching as she came upon pictures of Naru and Gene in those articles. She still had the photo that Naru had given her, the photo of younger versions of himself and Gene – with Naru looking out at the camera with softer eyes and a shirt that wasn't black.

Speaking of black, Mai's eyes stopped on a figure wearing all black. Just like Naru… Her eyes locked on the male figure, taking in the familiar stance, the irritatingly straight posture. Mai's eyes traveled up the figure – total black to the collared neck of his shirt. Mai finally got to his head, her eyes unconsciously caressing the planes of his face. To her shock, Naru stood there in the crowd, arms folded, glaring straight ahead.

In the exact same position as she'd seen before, in her mind. Mai closed her eyes for a moment, seeing again the cord that led to him, and still seeing him there. Then the Naru in her mind changed focus, his eyes rolling in irritation and glaring to his side.

Mai popped her eyes open again and looked out. Naru was glaring at Madoka, who was to his side. So she really was seeing Naru in her mind! That burning in her arms that had woken her up had happened because her powers recognized her new proximity to the person to whom they were bound.

Her powers would probably never cease to amaze her. Mai shook her head in wonder.

Yasuhara had noticed Naru as well. He noticed Mai noticing Naru. This was unexpected and Mai was probably freaking out. _Time for evasive action_. He couldn't have Mai staring at the ground and mumbling when she met Naru again.

"Well, well, look at that!" Yasuhara said loudly, drawing Mai's attention. "Big Boss did come. Well, we are in England – maybe he's been rehabilitated by the Ghost of Christmas Future and is going to buy us a turkey dinner and sing carols…" Here he stopped, as Mai was now laughing so hard that she was doubled over.

She was still laughing when she walked through the gate. "Nah," Mai said, eyes twinkling, "Although that would be awesome, I really doubt it. Besides, it's June – not even close to Christmas. I think it's more likely that Madoka threatened the safety of his stock of tea to get him here."

Yasuhara grinned back, noticing out of the corner of his eye that Naru was staring openly at Mai. He was watching her smile and laugh. _Success!_


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt.

**Chapter 3**

-0O0-

**Many Meetings**

-0O0-

Naru dimly heard Madoka squeal beside him as Mai and half of the Japanese SPR gang came into view. He found his eyes drawn to Mai, taking in her white hoodie and the razored, more adult-looking version of her usual hairstyle. Her eyes were still bright, her smile still lit up her face… and _what was he thinking_? Mai looked like Mai, big surprise. How did that qualify as a revelation? And why did he feel an annoying sense of relief at seeing her?

Hmm… maybe it was because he'd been so_ bored_ lately. Even Lin had been nagging about Naru's obvious and uncharacteristic apathy toward his work. This development might just be the answer to his _ennui_. Mai, at least, was never boring. That must be why he was almost… glad to see her.

Satisfied at his logical conclusions, Naru tore his eyes away from his former assistant and studied the other three members of the party. Yasu looked more physically mature, but still sported a decidedly mischievous grin and carried three heavy books in his arms. Naru remembered his father going on about the new students' research, specially noting the skills of the male. Yasu _had_ been quite an excellent Irregular researcher at the Japanese SPR. Naru smirked.

Matsuzaki and Takigawa were behind the two students, arguing. No surprise there. But what _was_ surprising was the diamond ring that Naru could see on the doctor-slash-shrine-maiden's hand (a hand that was currently pointing and waving angrily at Takigawa). Matsuzaki was actually someone's fiancée. _Hmm… wait._ A few moments ago, Martin had said that Matsuzaki and Takigawa were Mai's adoptive parents. And at some point, Naru had been told that the couple accompanying the students was engaged. So… Matsuzaki was going to marry Takigawa?

To be fair, Naru had always associated their constant bickering with unresolved sexual tension, especially as the two spiritualists became better acquainted. But still… Matsuzaki and Takigawa had actually gotten together, stayed together, and were deliberately heading to the altar? "Madness," Naru said aloud.

Lin apparently agreed with his assessment. "A marriage made in hell, more than likely," he intoned, eyes on the arguing pair. Naru nodded unthinkingly.

And then… "Mai! Yasu! Takigawa! Matsuzaki!" Madoka yelled, waving her arms.

Lin smiled slightly, Luella and Martin stared, and Naru glared.

Lin was sometimes overwhelmed by the eagerness which Madoka applied to almost everything, but he still found pleasure in watching her wave like a fool. _Plus_, he thought – as he watched three of the awaited party wave back excitedly – _this would definitely be a fascinating night. No, _he amended,_ a fascinating couple of years_.

Luella and Martin, for their part, had no idea what was going on. Madoka had never intimated that she knew the students or guardians, yet she called to them like they were friends. Then Luella's memory stirred. _Taniyama… she did know that name…_

Naru sighed, watching his mentor make a fool out of herself. Other people at the gate were staring at her. Mai, Yasu and Takigawa, of course, waved back like idiots.

Madoka took a step towards the group and Mai raced forward to meet her. As Mai neared them, she tripped over nothing and stumbled slightly as she reached for Madoka's waiting arms. Unconsciously, both Naru and Lin reached out to catch her.

The teen psychic's face burned as she crashed ungracefully into Madoka Mori. Fortunately, all of Madoka's hugging and smiling made Mai forget about her klutz attack. (Ayako, however, had her face in her hands, bemoaning that Mai's dramatic entrance was ruined.)

"Mai!" Madoka squeaked happily, crushing her a bit. Mai was used to Bou-san's hugs, though, so she made sure to suck in a breath when Madoka pulled back for a moment to study her. Then more hugging.

"You look so grown up! I love the hair, and I love those shoes!" Mai heard from above.

"Madoka, you're going to smother her," Lin noted.

All of a sudden she was released, and Mai took deep breaths. Then she smiled so wide that she almost split her face. "I missed you, too, Madoka-san!" Mai deliberately spoke English, and spoke it well, which caused a surprised ripple in some of the company. Lin and Naru were both shocked at her fluency.

Feeling awkward all of a sudden, Mai brought up a black-gloved hand and brushed hair out of her face.

"What's with the gloves?" Madoka asked curiously. "It's not _that_ cold here. And we're inside!"

Mai froze. "Oh, ha ha," she trilled nervously, "That's a long story."

"They're her sexalicious paranormal starlet gloves," Yasuhara replied from behind her. "In Japan, celebrities often have signature clothing or accessories," he informed the group with total seriousness. "As Mai-chan's manager, I told her that she needed to get on that bandwagon. Masako-chan wears that kimono for publicity, right? Well, Mai-chan couldn't do that – her recently demonstrated balance problems make kimono a no-no. So Mai-chan wears lovely, silky gloves that tie in bows above the elbow."

Mai whipped around and glared at Yasuhara. "Stop telling people that!" she roared. "I am not a celebrity and I wear these gloves to cover my scars! And STOP CALLING THEM 'SEXALICIOUS' or I will use them to assault you without leaving fingerprints!"

"Ha ha, sexalicious!" laughed Madoka, as Bou-san yanked Mai away from Yasuhara.

"No violence in front of security, children," he cautioned playfully in (much more accented) English.

Naru focused on the most important part of Mai's diatribe and asked, "What scars?"

Mai heard Naru's voice clearly. It seemed to cut through every other noise around her – but then again, it always had.

"Well, hi Naru," Mai said, turning to face him (and unsuccessfully fighting a blush).

He just stared at her.

Mai gritted her teeth, but decided not to start yelling (yet). "I, uh, ran into some trouble on a case. But we can talk about that some other time."

After all, Mai really REALLY did not want to have that discussion right now. She kinda didn't want to have that discussion ever. But she could see Gene's disappointed face in her mind, and knew that she owed it to him to explain to Naru. But not right now.

Naru narrowed his eyes at her. Mai knew that he was curious now and sensed that she was evading him. Naru would not forget about this and would likely attack her with questions when Mai least expected it. It was his way – and unfortunately, it almost always worked.

"Well," said a new voice. Professor Martin Davis slowly ran his eyes over the scene, taking in the completely unexpected reunion. So these people were Noll's former SPR employees. He had met them briefly in Japan, when he and Luella had gone to identify… Gene's body. However, they had been so distracted and grief-stricken at the time that Martin hadn't even remembered their names. He surveyed his own British SPR members. The scheming Madoka looked guilty, Lin looked amused (as amused as Lin ever got, anyway) and his son looked… completely involved. There was no trace of apathy now, although his usual reserve was still in place. Martin turned to the four newcomers.

The young man in glasses, who must be Yasuhara, stepped over to Martin, hand extended. "Professor Davis, I'm sorry. I am Osamu Yasuhara, your humble new student. So pleased to make your acquaintance."

Martin shook Yasuhara's hand, slightly shocked at the brightness of his smile and the light gleaming off his glasses.

"We should have greeted you first," Yasuhara continued blithely, "But we were so surprised to see our former colleagues and friends here, waiting for us!" Still smiling beatifically, he gestured to Madoka, Lin and Naru, all of whom stared back at Yasuhara with a mix of amusement and expectation.

"I could see that," Martin replied, re-fixing his gaze on Madoka. She smiled brightly, trying very hard not to look guilty. "I'm sorry, myself; I was unaware of your relationships to my son and my employees." Martin's gaze shifted to Oliver, whose actions so far had been incredibly… interesting. Noll glared at his father.

"Ah, yes, your son!" Yasuhara replied, his grin getting a little wider. "See, Mai-chan? Naru really does have a father! He wasn't grown in a lab after all!"

Mai giggled despite her struggle to maintain a good face in front of the Professor. Bou-san snorted and even Lin cracked a smile. Madoka, of course, laughed aloud, as did Ayako. Naru's glare switched focus from Martin to Yasuhara, but the teen seemed oddly immune to the laser beams of annoyance shooting from his former boss's eyes.

Martin found this immunity very impressive. "Well, I am of course his _adopted_ father, so I can't really rule out the possibility that Oliver was grown in a lab." Giggles erupted all around him. Noll's eyes were thin slits of irritation.

-0O0-

A little ways away, Luella Davis stood like a statue and studied Mai Taniyama. How could she have failed to recognize that name? She remembered when Lin informed her that Noll had inexplicably hired a Mai Taniyama, normal teenage girl, as an assistant. Oliver hated having more people around than necessary, and Lin had no idea why Noll had decided to employ her – and at a pretty high pay rate.

Eventually, it became obvious that Miss Taniyama had psychic abilities. A few different ones, in fact. She had proven very helpful on several cases, if not always on purpose, and almost always finding some sort of trouble. Lin had also let slip that Noll seemed to greatly enjoy Miss Taniyama's tea and requested it several times a day. More than was usual even for an Englishman. Luella had wondered.

Luella had in fact wondered many, many times about this Miss Taniyama. Especially since the speaking of her name always seemed to cause visible effects in the normally stoic Dr. Oliver Davis. His external agitation was usually slight, but a clear sign to anyone who knew him well. Furthermore, Lin never seemed surprised by Noll's strange behavior – and Madoka seemed downright gleeful every time Oliver's eyes tightened, his tongue sharpened, or his mood darkened (at the mention of Mai). Luella was indeed VERY curious about Mai Taniyama.

And here she was, in the flesh. And Noll was already reacting remarkably. For one, he had been positively shocked at Martin's announcement of her name. His eyes had widened dramatically for a normal person, let alone for Oliver. Then he'd stared unblinkingly at Miss Taniyama from the moment she came into his sight. Luella had watched the play of emotions over his face. Then, when Mai tripped (over what, Luella wasn't sure) and almost fell, her incredibly undemonstrative son instinctively held out his arm to catch her! Luella's mouth had actually dropped open at that point.

And finally, when the yelling had erupted about the gloves, Oliver asked about the scars Miss Taniyama had mentioned. Which meant two things to his mother: one, he was paying attention to a conversation that he would normally ignore; and two, he cared enough to ask about the injury. Mai evaded his questions, but Luella could tell that Noll filed it away for future study. This was interesting, as it suggested that Noll was very interested in the answer.

Luella was presently feeling excited and nervous. On one hand, the idea that her workaholic, indifferent son might have feelings for a woman was fantastic. On the other hand… the girl was only here for school and would eventually return to Japan. Luella watched her son's gaze flick back to Miss Taniyama for the third time in as many minutes and decided to forget her worries. For now, she would enjoy this. She had NEVER seen Oliver so interested in a girl; it warmed her heart and made her like Mai Taniyama immediately.

With an effort, Luella refocused on the conversation. It wouldn't do for her husband to (finally) introduce her only to find her completely inattentive. Ah. Mr. Yasuhara was still talking, and he had somehow sidled up to Miss Taniyama. He slung an arm across her shoulders, overhead light somehow flashing off his teeth and his glasses simultaneously. _Was he Miss Taniyama's boyfriend?_ Luella's body tensed. _Oh, no, he wasn't_, she realized happily – Mr. Yasuhara looked perfectly comfortable with the closeness, but Miss Taniyama was looking at him as if he had sprouted an extra head.

Mrs. Davis cut her eyes to her son. And grinned. Oliver's gaze was now fixed on Mr. Yasuhara's hand – the hand which held Miss Taniyama close. And he looked annoyed. His hands were even clenched into fists.

_This just keeps getting better and better_, Luella Davis mused.

-0O0-

Yasuhara totally ignored Naru's glares in his direction, plowing right ahead. He finished his apologies to the professor and decided to introduce the rest of his friends. He saw Mai fidget a bit, which drew Naru's immediate attention. And then Yasu had a brilliant idea.

"Allow me to introduce my companions," Yasuhara began, smiling extra-widely. He positively slinked over to Mai, and threw his arm around her as if he did it every day of his life. Usually, he only hugged Mai when she was very upset (or if she needed him to scare away some guy at the dance club they frequented). She jumped at the intimate contact, but Yasu was hoping that Naru wouldn't notice. He sneaked a glance at the Big Boss and was rewarded. Boy did Naru look pissed.

Yasuhara beamed, towing Mai toward Naru's parents. Naru's body turned with them as they walked, and Yasu wondered if their former boss was aware that his body language gave him away. He noticed that Naru's mother looked amused. Professor Davis opened his mouth, but Yasuhara beat him to it.

"And this lovely young woman is Mai Taniyama." Yasu summoned his most gentlemanly manners. Mai of course ruined it, not seeing the professor's extended hand and instead bowing in greeting.

"I'm so pleased to meet you," Mai said in excellent English – she had spent long, long hours studying English. She, Yasu, Bou-san and Ayako had been constantly speaking it and reading it aloud to one another for months. Mai was determined not to make a fool of herself in front of Na – people at Cambridge. It had taken her forever to pronounce "L" correctly, but after three years of high school and two semesters of Todai English, she was thoroughly fluent and proud.

She rose from her bow and noticed Professor Davis' outstretched hand. "Oh, I'm sorry!" Mai reached out and shook her professor's hand. As she came into contact with his skin (through the small holes in the fingers of her gloves), she became aware of the pleasant feel of his aura. _No spiritual powers, but good man. Solid, dependable. _His eyes were very intelligent and looked kindly on her. She smiled, happy.

Luella cleared her throat.

Martin spun, as if just remembering that Luella was there. He sent her an apologetic look. He had been distracted by the fuss, after all.

Luella rolled her eyes. She was done with waiting for Martin. "And I'm Luella Davis, Martin's wife and Noll's mother," she said, stepping forward, hand outstretched to Mai.

Mai took it eagerly – she had really wanted to meet Naru's mother (really meet her, as Naru's adopted parents had been understandably preoccupied the only other time they'd all met). Madoka had told her that Luella was very nice, and Mai could see and feel that already. Her presence was so warm and inviting; it reminded her forcibly of Gene. Mai smiled and greeted Luella Davis properly.

Bou-san noticed Naru's shoulders relax infinitesimally. The monk grinned – _maybe Naru was anxious about that introduction? _He stepped forward, holding Ayako's arm.

"And I'm Takigawa Houshou, Mai's adopted father." He exchanged a strong, manly handshake with Martin Davis – and kissed Luella's hand with celebrity rock-star aplomb. Mai rolled her eyes and Yasu made an annoyed noise.

"I was going to do that, you scene stealer!" Yasuhara pouted.

"You're both idiots," Ayako informed Bou-san and Yasu. She spun on her heel and bowed to Naru's parents. "I am Ayako Matsuzaki, medical doctor and shrine maiden. And Mai will be my official adopted daughter once I've married this fool." She jerked her head toward Takigawa.

Now that the attention was off her, Mai tuned out for a moment. She started to yawn and then remembered herself. Her eyes popped open and she met the raised eyebrow of Professor Davis. Mai blushed, completely embarrassed. _She'd yawned in front of her new professor!_

But Professor Davis wouldn't even let her apologize. "Come, come," he said, "You must all be exhausted from the flight! You are staying with us this evening, correct?"

As the four Japanese visitors nodded, Naru realized that his previous plan of staying at the SPR office until midnight (ensuring that he would not have to socialize with the guests) was no longer desirable. He actually wanted to be there for dinner and conversation. Now he had to figure out how to tell his parents – without making it sound like he was changing plans because he cared.

As it happened, Madoka solved this problem for him. "Noll, you're going home with us now, right? You wouldn't want to skip dinner with your former colleagues!"

_A command in the form of a question, Madoka_? Naru's cheek twitched in annoyance. But he would work with it – so he sighed, as if terribly troubled. "Whatever you say; you'll only call me every five minutes, anyway." There, that sounded properly blasé.

Naru's parents felt a little suspicious – Oliver had agreed unusually quickly. Usually he would put up more of a protest. They exchanged knowing glances, but said nothing.

Martin led the way out of Heathrow, looking forward to this extra time with their exciting guests.

-0O0-

**AN: Extra love if you guess where I got my chapter name from;) And don't worry, lots of Naru/Mai interaction next chapter… I tried, but I just couldn't ignore everyone else! Yasu's such a freaking scene stealer - luckily, he's going in the other car.**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Happy Saturday, everybody! Let's celebrate with the next chapter!**

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Or my favorite book, which I tend to use chapter titles from;)

**Chapter 4 – A Long-Expected Party**

-0O0-

Mai knew right away that the car situation was going to suck. Nine people in two cars.

"You couldn't have brought the van, Lin-san?" she asked with a groan.

"The van was a lease, Taniyama-san," Lin replied, amusement in his tone. "We didn't _drive_ back to England."

"I could only imagine the torture of sitting in a van with Naru and Lin for a cross-continental journey," Ayako stage-whispered. Mai remembered Ayako's complaints about being stuck in the van with Lin ("For three hours!") during that one case. But still –

"Big words coming from someone who got to ride in Bou-san's car all the time," Mai shot back. "I am the only one of us who ever spent ungodly amounts of time stuck in a car with Lin-san AND Naru."

Behind Mai, Luella and Madoka exchanged amused looks.

"No radio, no talking, no eating, no humming, no signaling to John-kun in the other car, no writing 'Save Me Please' on the window…"

Madoka burst out laughing. Martin chuckled.

"…no playing car-to-car Hangman," Mai continued, "No video games, no talking on the phone… and the most ridiculous one: no playing cell phone games that require a lot of 'noisy button-pushing.'"

There were snorts of laughter all around as Mai heaved Suitcase #1 into one of the cars.

Naru's voice cut smoothly through the laughing. "First of all, that 'Save Me Please' on the window got us pulled over by the police."

The laughter became louder at this; Madoka actually bent double. Mai winced, that cop had not been pleased. And Naru had been livid.

"And there wouldn't have been an activity ban if you weren't so dreadfully noisy when doing _anything_ _at all_."

Mai whipped around, dropping Suitcase #2 onto the concrete. Naru was right before her, that irritating, narcissistic smirk only six inches away. (His parents couldn't see his face, so Naru could go all out provoking Mai.)

"You are the only person I've ever met who is noisy whilst reading," he continued. Mai's eyes were burning now, fueling something within him. "Sighing constantly, mumbling to yourself, flipping pages so hard that they rip…" Naru almost felt Mai snap.

"Well, you're the only person I've ever met who is _narcissistic_ while reading!" She exploded, fist shaking. "Naru the Narcissist, who can read faster and better than everyone, all the while throwing condescending glances at his assistant's slow progress through her difficult chemistry textbook! But does the overly confident genius volunteer to _help_ his obviously struggling assistant? Noooo."

"Did you reckon your constant mumbles of 'arrogant jerk' and 'reads so fast he must be an alien' would inspire me to offer my aid?" The narcissist in question interrupted.

Mai ignored him. "Instead, he just glares and rolls his eyes at what a simpleton his assistant is and casually flicks another page over… as Naru the Narcissist can of course glare, smirk, roll his eyes and read all at the same time!"

"Of course I can," Naru replied. "My brain works differently than yours."

Mai opened her mouth to yell – but Luella beat her to it.

"Noll!" Luella admonished sharply, "Have you forgotten the meaning and usage of manners?"

It was Martin's comment, however, that actually stopped the argument. "That brain is certainly doing you no favors at the moment, Noll."

Mai stared and Naru blinked, both confused and needing clarification. Martin continued, "Well, Noll, how intelligent is it to doubt Mai-san's intelligence? She had top grades at Tokyo University, is currently a transfer student at the very school from which you received your doctorate, and _I_ think she's a promising researcher. So tell me, how smart is it to infer that my talented new student is stupid?"

Mai's jaw dropped and Naru's cheek twitched.

Naru _almost_ replied that he was obviously smarter than Mai – he had the degrees to prove it. He had a hundred verifiable examples of his comparative genius from their time together at SPR. But something inside him warned him to leave it alone. Maybe it was his long-lost courtesy coming back… maybe it was just too much effort… maybe it was Gene's memory.

Or maybe, it was Mai's face – she seemed to be waiting for a nasty response, and he just couldn't bring himself to insult her again. He just wanted to tease her. His previous comments were designed to bait her into their familiar arguing pattern and break the nervousness she obviously felt in his presence. But to continue insulting her intelligence would dampen her spirits… and for reasons Naru didn't want to look too closely at, he didn't want to hurt Mai.

So instead, he simply sighed and picked up Mai's dropped suitcase. Lifting it into the trunk of the car, Naru turned to his former assistant. "Cambridge students should know when it's time to get into the car," he muttered, gesturing towards the right-hand side of Lin's car.

Mai beamed as she bounced over to the back door. That was almost a compliment!

Luella stared at her son as he opened the door on the car's other side. This was the most emotional day that she had shared with Noll in more than a year. She watched him wait for Mai to slip into the car before sliding in himself (next to her). Luella grinned. She couldn't WAIT until they got back to the house.

"Don't worry," Madoka whispered to her. "I'll tell you if anything else delightful happens in your absence."

-0O0-

Lin drove in his usual silence, but Madoka was chatting away in the front passenger seat. Mai nodded absently, but her mind was elsewhere. She was electrically aware of Naru in the seat beside her. To her, Naru practically glowed in the dark. Her very cells seemed to thrum with anticipation of… something. Maybe this was another sign of their now very close psychic connection? Mai was definitely going to interrogate Gene about this the next time she saw him.

All of a sudden, Madoka turned around in her seat and looked at Mai expectantly – with a start, Mai realized that Madoka must have asked her something. She tore her mind away from the silent and glow-y Naru with a shake of her head.

"Sorry, Madoka-san, what was that?"

"Martin told me that you and Yasu are extra-curricular ghost hunters," Madoka said brightly.

Lin glanced at her in the rearview mirror and Naru shifted in his seat.

"Yeah," Mai replied, "We still work with everybody in Japan. John-kun and Masako-chan are the only ones left for a couple of months, though, so they're only taking emergency cases."

Mai honestly felt nervous about leaving TTMPI for so long. Even though Mai kept reminding everyone that she WASN'T the boss – especially Yasu, who still insisted on calling her Boss on cases – she sorta was. Taniyama Takigawa Matsuzaki Psychic Investigations _was_ her idea. However, it was really Ayako's funding and Masako's equipment that had actually made the business possible.

And now she had left for the better part of three years… Masako had promised that one of her security guards would stop by at least once a day to check on the office, and John and Masako would come in for any emergency client meetings. Ayako and Bou-san would be running it properly once they returned to Japan. Mai would be there herself during summer vacations from Cambridge.

Still, she felt like calling John to ask if everything was alright. Even though it had only been a day. Mai had actually reached into her purse and palmed her phone before she remembered that it was the middle of the night in Japan.

"Any interesting cases lately?" Madoka asked conversationally.

Mai considered. "There were a couple of weird ones a few months ago. There was this house that had a LOT of spiritual activity. For some reason, every time someone was attacked, lots of furniture would end up broken later that day. It turned out to be the ghosts of two suicidal cousins fighting with each other over who could cause the most drama. Whenever one would pull off something really big on the residents, the other one would throw a tantrum and break furniture."

Madoka snorted. "And how did you figure that out?"

"Well, Masako-chan and I could hear female voices arguing. We originally thought that the arguments must have ended in someone's death, and that the victim was trying to tell us how she died. But that theory was discounted on day three."

"How?" Naru asked from beside her. Mai could feel his laser-like stare on her face.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "We figured it out when Masako-chan and I were both possessed by the ghosts, who decided it would be way better to fight in bodies than as spirits."

"What happened?" Madoka asked.

"A bunch of stuff went flying around, we threw things, and according to the video, Masako-chan and I tried to throw each other out the window. It eventually devolved into a fist fight in the base that broke three cameras. Luckily Masako-chan was involved in the fight, so I didn't have to hear it about her equipment later." Mai shot a glance at Naru, remembering how she first started (was blackmailed into) working for him. He raised an eyebrow, amusement in his eyes.

Then Mai grinned. "Bou-san did the exorcism on Masako-chan and John-kun did one on me. When I woke up, I was tied to a chair with electrical wires and had a really lovely black eye."

Madoka burst out laughing, Lin chuckled and Naru smirked widely.

"Now we bring rope." Mai added. More laughing.

There was a bump as the car turned into a driveway. Mai looked out the window to see a western-style mansion looming before her.

"We're here!" Madoka sang, opening her door.

Mai's heart jumped again. Now she was going to Naru's house… to sleep there. But her nervousness took a back seat as Bou-san stumbled by looking disoriented.

Mai jumped out of the car to steady him. "Are you alright?" She noticed a bump on Bou-san's head, and his clothes looked rumpled.

Yasuhara snickered behind her. "He decided to get in one last round of 'I Spy' in the car. The answer was Ayako's "too-big-to-fit-in-the-trunk" suitcase – and of course, he alleged that it's so big because Ayako had to bring all that make-up to hide how old she is."

Mai groaned. "Bou-san, when will you ever learn?" She pulled his arm around her shoulders and proceeded to help her adopted father toward the mansion.

Suddenly Ayako's heels sounded behind her. Mai received a whap on the head as her angry almost-adopted-mother swept by.

"Hey, what did I do?"

Ayako whipped around and glared. "Whose stupid idea was the 'I Spy' game in the first place?"

Oh. "Mine." Mai rubbed her head and continued lugging Bou-san toward the house.

"Why am I marrying her again?" Bou-san muttered.

"I dunno. Love?" Mai tried.

Bou-san snorted. "Love! Love is apparently another word for PAIN!" he shouted the last word at Ayako's back. She ignored him.

"Yeah," Mai said softly. "I guess it is."

Naru heard Mai's declaration as he walked behind her (carrying the suitcase that she had abandoned to help Bou-san). His lips thinned in irritation. Mai sounded so… resigned. He guessed it was only natural, though, as the person she loved was already dead. _Gene_.

Naru felt the familiar twist in his stomach at the thought of his twin. But oddly, the twisting feeling became worse when Naru imagined Mai and Gene eventually meeting in the afterlife. _Wasn't that what should happen?_ He stared at his former assistant's back and tried very hard to ignore the voice in his head that inexplicably railed against Mai and Gene's happy ending.

Bou-san muttered something else and Mai snorted with laughter. The twisting feeling lessened as Naru watched her giggle.

The Davis' butler held the door open for them, and Naru again felt something strange as he watched Mai enter his house. It was a… warm feeling he couldn't properly identify.

He vowed to give it more thought as he stepped inside and handed off the suitcase. Naru smirked to himself as turned to see Mai standing between an arguing Bou-san and Ayako. Dinner should be entertaining.

-0O0-

Luella stared at her son's plate, awed at the steady rate with which his dinner vanished. Oliver was actually on seconds of the roasted butternut squash. He hadn't eaten like this since Gene died. Mrs. Davis knew that Noll only ate like this when he was distracted from the food. Gene used to spend the entire meal telling stories; Noll whiled away the time (and food) correcting Gene – or informing their adopted parents that his twin was simply making things up.

Right now, Noll was eating because he was too busy listening and conversing with their guests to notice the food. They had been discussing recent cases in Japan for the better part of an hour – and Martin and Luella had both noticed the unmistakable spark in Oliver's eyes any mention of a particularly strange occurrence.

It was also apparent that Noll paid special attention to anything involving Mai Taniyama. Even when he was talking with someone else, Noll always seemed to hear whatever Miss Taniyama said – and commented at the first available opportunity. His tone changed as well; the cold Oliver Davis adopted a decidedly teasing tone when interacting with his former assistant. He also seemed to actually enjoy her angry responses to his baiting. Even stranger, the rest of the party appeared to regard this behavior as _normal_.

The most shocking moment, however, came with dessert. Oliver glanced indifferently at his orange-blossom dessert tea and set it rudely down on the table. Luella knew that he preferred black tea with dessert, but _really_. James was serving more people than usual and simply forgot to make Noll's favorite. She sighed at her son's manners and was about to comment – when Miss Taniyama scoffed in frustration.

"Honestly, Naru, you are such a _snob_. It's still tea! You could use some variety once in a while, anyway."

"I do imbibe a variety of teas, Mai, as I'm sure you remember."

"I _meant_ that you could switch up your daily routine every once in a while, as I'm sure you realized, Narcissist."

"I do not see the need to change an obviously satisfactory routine. Where is the logic in that?"

"It's called 'fun,' Naru. Surely you've heard of it. Be adventurous! Drink orange tea!"

"Interesting that you'd refer to a _ghost hunter_ as unadventurous. Surely the unpredictability of my job reinforces the need for stability elsewhere in life. Ergo, my tea 'routine' serves a very important purpose – an anchor in the chaotic tide of life."

"You don't need a tea routine for that – your narcissism is your 'anchor.' We all know that doesn't take a break."

"The irrationality of others forces my 'narcissism' continuously, Mai. Your own illogical personality is an excellent example – your incomprehensible actions consistently require my contrasting logical responses."

"You unbelievably arrogant – "

"Mai-chan!" Madoka cut in, hoping to distract Mai from launching herself across the table and throttling Naru. "What Noll is really saying is that he missed you."

Mai's face burned a brilliant shade of red and Naru turned angry eyes to his mentor.

"Madoka. Stop talking nonsense."

"Well, we know he missed her tea," Ayako mused. "He'd have drunk it already."

Mai recovered and threw Naru a smirk of her own. "Yeah, probably. And to think, I was _going _to say that if Naru finished his orange tea, I would make him a cup of Earl Grey as a reward. But no, then he had to get all egotistical on me…"

Without further ado, Oliver Davis picked up his cup and downed the entire cup of tea in one gulp. Catching Mai's shocked gaze, he pushed the empty cup toward her.

"Mai, tea."

The members of Japan's SPR grinned at hearing Naru's favorite phrase. Except Mai, who glared and held Naru's eyes.

"If I don't get this taste out of my mouth, I'll only get more ill-tempered," he cautioned.

"Heaven forbid," Mai replied archly. But the amused sparkle in her eyes gave her away. She picked up Naru's cup and sashayed toward the kitchen. "Can't have you irritating me all night," she said, so he wouldn't think she was giving in. "I wouldn't want your self-centered pouting to damage my opinion of England."

-0O0-

Mai returned with an entire tray of cups. "I convinced James-san to let me do all the tea," she said shyly in response to Luella's questioning look. She quickly passed fresh cups to everyone at the table except for Naru, who glared at being skipped.

Finally, Mai turned to him and grinned. "Here you are, O Discriminating Tea Addict."

Naru tried very hard to look indifferent as she handed him a steaming cup of his favorite Earl Grey. He waited as long as possible (two seconds) to take a sip. _Heaven_. Two years of yearning washed away as Mai's delicious tea filled his mouth. A silly part of Naru's brain reckoned that he could feel his taste buds celebrating with every mouthful.

He completely ignored the looks of glee (Madoka, Bou-san and Yasuhara) and the expressions of shock (Martin and Luella) that filled the faces of his companions.

"Silence from Big Boss," Yasuhara noted merrily. "Good job, Mai-chan!"

Mai grinned cheekily at her former employer, sipping her own green tea with relish.

Naru raised an eyebrow. "After all that about my special tea, you make green tea for yourself?"

"The one who makes it gets to pick the tea," Mai replied calmly.

-0O0-

Shortly after, the party adjourned to the sitting room. Mai found a lovely squashy chair to curl up in as the fervor of reunion calmed into quiet conversations and English television programs. At some point, Mai wandered back into the kitchen and made more tea. When she returned with a laden tray, the entire room watched Naru watch Mai as she meandered her way across the room and served him another cup of her tea.

His very posture seemed to relax as he gulped it down.

"Mai-chan, can I have the cream?" Luella requested.

As Mai leaned over the end table to hand it to her, an interesting necklace became visible. It was made of three different keys, woven through with thin silver chains and Buddhist prayer beads.

"What a unique piece of jewelry!" Mrs. Davis exclaimed, leaning in for a closer look. "Wherever did you get it?"

"I, er, made it," Mai answered, blushing. "We all spend every Christmas at a church near Tokyo. Our friend John Brown is a priest there, and they have an orphanage on premises. So we always go and celebrate with John-kun and the kids. Anyway, last year the 'craft-of-the-day' was jewelry-making, and I decided to make a necklace for myself. I wanted to do something with my special keys, and Bou-san donated some prayer beads… this is the finished product."

"That's lovely," Martin noted. "Special keys?"

Naru was grateful for his father's inquisitive nature. He didn't have to ask the question himself.

Mai nodded. "The one in the center is the key to the house I lived in when I was a little girl. My mom used it as her good luck charm, and now I use it as mine."

_So that was the key that Mai had given to Hara-san in Urado's mansion_, Naru concluded. He had always wondered as to its significance.

"This one," Mai continued, holding up the one to the right, "Is the key to the apartment I lived in before I moved in with Bou-san and Ayako. I kept it to remind me that I am independent and can rely on myself." She rolled her eyes. "I know, it's kinda silly."

"No, it's not," Lin replied (shocking everyone in the room). "That independence is an important part of your personality."

Mai blushed harder. "Thank you so much, Lin-san." She bowed her head in gratitude.

"And this last one," Mai held up the left-side key, "Is the key to the SPR office in Japan. That's where all this started for me… it's where I met my SPR family." It was also where she had met Naru, which was why Mai kept that key closest to her heart. She was definitely keeping that to herself, though.

"You have the office key?" Naru asked, befuddled.

"Yes… Lin-san gave it to me before you guys left," Mai replied, equally confused. "You didn't know that?"

Naru turned to his assistant/bodyguard, eyebrow up and arched.

"As Taniyama-san rather poetically just said, SPR meant a lot to her. And we left rather suddenly. I wanted to leave her something to hold on to." Lin replied without looking up from his evening paper. Then he smirked almost imperceptibly. "Didn't you do the same? That photograph Taniyama-san had on the day we left had to have come from you, Noll."

Naru's eyes narrowed, mentally wincing as he heard Madoka and Luella inhale sharply. He didn't know how to get out of this one without giving away that he cared… a little.

Luckily, he was rescued.

"Yeah, you guys were both out of sorts that day. It happens to the best of us." Mai defused the situation quickly and efficiently. Naru stared a moment – Mai loved making him uncomfortable. She spent eons trying to ruffle his feathers at SPR – and now she bails him out?

Mai waited until she was sure that no one else was looking, and then winked at Naru – who she noticed was studying her under his eyelashes. She wasn't going to let Lin poke at Naru for showing some humanity. It had been really sweet of him to give her the photograph. She cherished it – it was packed in her suitcase even now, wrapped carefully in newsprint to protect the silver picture frame she'd bought to hold it.

-0O0-

That night, Mai went to bed full of Western food and the happiness of reunion. Plus, she was finally free to bask in her embarrassing thoughts about how_ good_ Naru looked. She hadn't actually seen him in two years, after all. He still moved with the same deliberateness and grace, his eyes still burned hot, cold and condescending all at once. He was nineteen now – twenty in a few months – and the time had siphoned off any last traces of baby fat from his face. He looked more like a man, now.

But for any physical growth he'd had, his aura was almost unchanged. Naru still felt detached and incomplete, and his aura swirled with suppressed pain. Mai had sort of been able to sense his inner state in Japan, but she was better at it now. She could feel his faith in himself, like narcissistic pillars forming the foundation of his soul. Mai giggled at the image.

She also contemplated her more complicated feelings about Naru's narcissism. Though she complained about it, Naru's egotism was part of what made him a very dependable person. On cases, Mai could be sure of their course because he was sure of his. And he _always_ came through. Plus, for all his insisting that he didn't actually need any of them, Naru always took the group along with him.

_Well, except for when he left_. Mai bit her lip. After everything they'd been through, Naru just picked up and left them whole hog. He had never written, called, or visited. It was like SPR was something he'd carried around in his pocket for a while, and when it got too heavy to carry he'd just tossed it away. Mai had wondered if he ever even thought of them at all.

Then she smiled at the new knowledge that he _had_ thought of them. His memory was quite exact – he'd remembered far too much about their exploits and their personalities to have simply erased everyone from his mind. And when they'd talked about the adoption and stuff, Mai could tell that Naru was listening intently. She knew him well enough to know that listening meant he cared.

And he didn't seem too upset that half of his Japanese acquaintance had followed him to England. _That was good_, Mai thought sleepily. Not only because it meant that Naru didn't hate her, but also… it was a good sign for the future. Naru didn't know it yet, but he was sorta stuck with her. Mai wondered idly if Naru could sense the increased psychic bond between them like she could. She didn't think so… he definitely would've said something…

Mai's eyes drifted shut. She was calm now, free from the nerve-wracking tension that came from trying to interact with Naru without telling him she loved him and without spilling everything Gene didn't want him to know yet.

She should've known not to think of Gene right before going to sleep…

Hours later, Mai groaned fearfully in her sleep as The Nightmare started.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: This chapter was re-worked especially for Ariana Taniyama, who reminded me that Luella should have a reaction to all this. So Naru doesn't really get it until next chapter now. Heh.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. If I did, Mai and Naru would have ghost hunter babies by now.**

-0O0-

**Chapter 5 – Dreams and Discussions**

-0O0-

A terrified, awful scream rang through the Davis mansion. Then there was the sound of running feet, as Ayako and Bou-san jumped out of bed and raced down the hall to the guest room in which Mai was staying.

"Damn it, I knew I should have slept with Mai!" Ayako groused as they burst into Mai's room. Sure enough, Mai was thrashing in her sheets, arms waving and legs kicking, as though trying desperately to escape something. Ayako reached the bed just as Mai screamed again.

Naru had fallen asleep at his desk, still in his regular clothes with a book in his lap. A high-pitched shriek brought him back to consciousness. A minute passed and the scream sounded again, long and desperate. Naru knew that scream. He leapt out of his chair and ran blindly down the hall, passing his parents and a glasses-less Yasuhara.

Arcing into one of the guest bedrooms, Naru froze at the scene. Ayako was trying to wake a screaming Mai. Bou-san was sitting on her legs and holding her flapping arms. All of a sudden, Mai stopped shrieking and started choking. Naru moved to the bed in panic.

"Slap her!" Bou-san shouted to Ayako. "That usually does it!"

Ayako hesitated. Then Mai screamed again. Tears leaked from her closed eyes.

Naru opened his mouth to speak – and Ayako pulled Mai up from the pillow and smacked her hard across the face.

Mai's eyes flew open and her whole body jumped in the bed. It took her a moment to really come to. She gulped in a couple of deep breaths before freezing in place and holding her stomach, eyes darting around the room. Naru observed her silently, standing behind Ayako. He was puzzled when Bou-san pulled a wastebasket over to the bed.

The teen psychic saw Bou-san's answer to her current dilemma, but there was no way she was throwing up in front of Naru. Mai's eyes locked on the door of the en-suite bathroom and she found her escape. The still-hysterical girl launched out of the bed and ran for it. Ayako followed her in and shut the door just as Mai started retching.

Naru's eyes had widened as Mai unexpectedly vaulted out of bed. His shock only increased as the muffled sounds of someone being violently sick came from the other side of the bathroom door. His gaze turned to Takigawa, who was looking worried and still holding the wastebasket (which Naru now understood the need for).

His mother appeared beside him, wrapped in a dressing gown. "What's going on?" Luella asked softly. "Is Mai sick?"

"I don't think she's sick in the sense you mean," Naru replied slowly. "Right, Takigawa?"

Mai's adopted father sighed. "She had that death dream again."

Naru's eyebrows flew heavenward. "Again?"

Bou-san nodded heavily. "She's been having the same dream over and over again for over a year now." He winced as the sound of retching from the bathroom got louder. "It only happens once or twice a month nowadays. When it started, she had it five nights in a row. Then it eased off to about once a week. It's coming less frequently… Ayako and I were hoping it was almost over, maybe." Bou-san fixed Naru with a look. "It's also one of the reasons we're so happy that she's going to be here for a while. You guys research this stuff. And Mai does her best, but she needs help controlling her powers."

Martin shifted behind Luella. "And we are certainly willing to offer it. Taniyama is my student and obviously a quite powerful psychic in need of assistance. We can go to SPR in the morning, if you'd like."

The bathroom door creaked open. "No, I'm alright," Mai said hoarsely from the doorway.

"Clearly, you aren't," Naru noted tensely.

Mai tried to glare, but couldn't quite summon the energy. Ayako helped her back into bed and the previously unnoticed Yasuhara handed her a bottle of soda. Japanese soda, must have been in his suitcase. She smiled in thanks and sipped the liquid gingerly. When the room leveled out and the dizziness faded, she turned to Martin and Luella. "I'm sorry for causing trouble," she said formally. "I get weird dreams sometimes."

Luella rushed forward (Naru couldn't believe she'd held back this long). "It's perfectly alright, dear," she cooed, rubbing the exhausted girl's back. "We're not exactly unused to such things in this house."

Mai smiled beatifically at Naru's lovely mother. Mai felt like if she used her powers, she would sense golden happy light emanating from Luella. "I guess," she replied weakly, knowing that her death vision was one that Naru had also experienced here.

"It was that dream again?" Yasuhara asked knowingly.

Mai cut her eyes at him, giving him a warning look. She didn't need Naru to know that she was having the same dream over and…

"How many times has this particular dream come to you?" asked the very person she was thinking of. "Bou-san says that you've been having it over a year."

_Damn it_. Mai threw a glare at an unrepentant Takigawa. "I don't know," she replied. "A few."

"Perhaps you are unaware of the meaning of 'a few?'" Naru asked, an edge to his voice. "I would hardly call every night for a week, then weekly, then bimonthly over several months 'a few' times."

Ugh, she was only throwing up for a couple of minutes! How had he managed to get so much information so _quickly?_

Luella's hand tightened on Mai's shoulder. "It must be awful to have had a vision of someone's death that many times," she lamented.

Mai closed her eyes. _Not just someone's death_, she amended in her head, _your other son's death_. And there was no way she was going to SPR and recounting Gene's death to his father and twin brother. How was she was going to get out of this? "It's… less bad now than it was in the beginning," Mai said truthfully.

"Yes, that's obvious from your violent reaction to it," Naru seethed.

Mai was recovered enough to glare angrily at his tone. "That doesn't happen because I'm upset about it, it's because at the end of the dream –" She stopped. No need to give him anymore help; Naru was too damn smart and would probably have the whole thing figured out in minutes. Gene had warned her not to give Naru any leading information yet. She wasn't even supposed to tell Naru that she could still see Gene.

Her sudden reluctance to speak set off a warning siren in Naru's head. He narrowed his eyes at the silent psychic and wondered why she didn't want him to know what she'd been dreaming about. They had a brief staring contest, but Mai was evidently harder to crack than she'd been in the past. She lifted her chin in defiance and sipped her soda.

It was then that Naru noticed the gloves. Long, black gloves tied in bows above the elbow, just like Yasuhara had said. He hadn't been able to see anything above her wrist until now – she'd been wearing a long-sleeved hoodie all evening.

"Why are you still wearing those gloves?" he asked.

Mai grimaced. Naru was good at client examinations; he knew what questions to ask and he knew how to ask in a tone that demanded an answer. "Because my scars don't disappear at night," she shot back.

Luella felt the tension in Mai's back and glared at her son. "I think it's time to call it a night," she said. She used a gentle tone for Mai's sake, but fixed steady eyes on a frustrated Noll and stared him into submission.

Nauru sighed in defeat. "Get some sleep, Mai," he said unexpectedly.

Mai was thrown a bit. _Was Naru having one of his rare thoughtful moments?_

"We're going to have a long discussion about this tomorrow."

Mai groaned and fell back onto the pillows. _So short lived, the thoughtfulness_.

Grim pronouncement made, Naru turned on his heel and marched from the room.

"Ah… don't mind Noll. That's how he shows he cares." Luella squeezed Mai's arm affectionately and eased off of the bed. She pulled Martin from the room and called, "Good night, dear," as they left together.

Bou-san took Luella's place on the bed and gave Mai a hard look. She could hear the lecture coming and wasn't surprised when he switched back to Japanese to give it. "Listen, Mai, I know you've come here for school, but _I_ want you here because of SPR. You need help with your powers – don't argue – and this recurring dream is bad for your health and mental state. I want you to talk about it tomorrow."

"No," Mai said firmly.

"Mai, I don't understand why you won't tell anyone about it. You've never even really told us much." Ayako looked exasperated.

"I've told you about the drowning at the end," she argued.

"Only because I was anxious about the constant throwing up," Ayako replied. "You still won't tell us about the jerking in the beginning. Or where you are, or anything else about it. Maybe if we can figure out _who_ you're dreaming about, we can stop it."

Mai sighed. She had to tell them before they said something to Naru. "Ayako, I know who it is."

"You do?" Bou-san asked incredulously. "Then why…"

"Because there's nothing you can do about it," Mai said. "I see this dream because I'm very psychically connected to the person it's about." She gave her substitute father a long look, and saw him figure it out.

"Oh, jou-chan," he said, wrapping his arms around her. Mai teared up again.

"So you see why we can't talk to Naru about it," Mai said in a quavering voice. "I don't want to force him to re-live that. And I certainly don't want to talk about it in front of Martin and Luella."

"I _knew_ you were dreaming about… your spirit guide," Yasu said. He didn't want to say Gene's name aloud, since the name was English and somebody could hear them.

"You knew it was about him?" Ayako asked accusingly.

"I guessed," Yasuhara corrected. "It was the most logical option."

Ayako threw her hands up. "We need to work on information-sharing in this group!"

Mai laughed a bit. "Well, then, I guess what I'm going to say will piss you off."

Ayako leveled a glare at Mai, crossing her arms and waiting.

Mai stretched out with her senses and made sure that no one was listening before making her appeal. "Gene doesn't want Naru to know that I can still see him. He wants to keep it a secret for a while and has requested that I not say anything about him. And I'm asking you to do the same. He's helped us – especially me – a lot, and we owe him. So, don't tell Naru yet. Please?" Mai begged in a soft voice.

Ayako sighed heavily. "And why doesn't Gene-san want Naru to know anything? Can't Naru see Gene-san himself now?"

"Yes," Mai said. "Although we're not supposed to know that," she noted quickly. "But Gene thinks that Naru wants to make him move on, and he's not quite ready. Gene thinks that if Naru knows that Gene is attached to me, he'll think Gene is in danger of becoming an evil spirit and will try to exorcise him or something."

"Naru would think that because that_ is_ a danger," Bou-san replied testily. "I've been telling you that."

"He's not in danger yet, I'd be able to sense it," Mai argued. She turned to the shrine maiden for help. "Ayako?"

Ayako's tree spirits had told her that Gene was no threat. The miko had been worried and asked them about it one night when Mai had fallen asleep in a park.

Her almost-mother gave Mai an assessing look. "He's no danger," she said slowly. "I understand why you don't want to tell Naru about the dream. And we do owe Gene-san quite a bit. He's been very helpful on cases and with helping you train your powers. We'll go along with this for a while." She looked resolved and Mai rejoiced inside.

Bou-san sighed unhappily, but nodded. Yasuhara nodded as well.

"Thank you," Mai replied gratefully before bringing up the next issue. "We're going to have to tell them _something_ tomorrow."

Ayako's lips twisted. "Yes, but what?"

Yasuhara raised his hand. "I've got something. Why don't you say that Mai is seeing the death of someone who was murdered close to your apartment in Japan? It's since been resolved by the police, but Mai lives close to the site of the murder and vaguely knew the woman, so she's attuned to the wavelength and unfortunately keeps seeing the death."

"It's as good a story as any," Bou-san said slowly, giving Yasuhara a suspicious look. "You're way too good at lying, Yasu."

The college student only grinned. "Comes in handy, though, doesn't it?"

"Alright, so that's the plan," Mai cut off an argument before it began. "Now let's get some sleep. I'll need my wits about me to deal with Naru."

"And you'll need to reign in your temper," Ayako reminded Mai, ruffling her hair.

Mai just grunted and burrowed into her covers. She heard rather than saw the others leave.

-0O0-

Her eyelids were stuck together like glue. Mai groaned and twisted her hands against them in a grouchy attempt at removing whatever salty gunk was inhibiting her sight. She'd cried after nightmares enough to know that it was the residue of tears. Although she had re-lived Gene's death countless times in the last year, it still brought her to tears every time.

As her crusted-over eyelids finally bent to her will and opened, Mai heard a noise in the hallway. Not yet ready to move, she stretched out with her powers and sensed the approach of a semi-familiar aura. Not anyone she'd come to England with – she knew their auras like the back of her hand. Not Naru's – his was too bright and linked with hers in a way that this one wasn't. Not Lin – his onmyouji powers gave his aura a very specific something. So that left Madoka, Martin or Luella. Mai concentrated harder – the aura was soft, warm, caring. _Luella_, she guessed.

She was proven correct as Luella Davis poked her head gingerly into the room. Her eyes found Mai in the bed immediately and her face brightened. "Good morning, Mai – well, afternoon, really."

"Afternoon?" Mai asked. Her voice was hoarser than usual. Damn screaming.

"Yes, dear. I thought it would be best to let the lot of you sleep. Jet lag and all that. Not to mention your ordeal last night." She looked at Mai with a great deal of sympathy and no small amount of curiosity.

Mai did not exactly know what to make of her expression. Ayako had her maternal moments, but Mai hadn't received _that look_ in a long time. She wasn't sure whether to smile or cry.

"I've been popping up here every now and again to see if you'd woken up," Luella continued, padding over to the bed. "I think that tea is in order straightaway. I'll ask James to bring it up here."

"Oh, I can do it…"

"No, you're going to stay right there until you've had some tea." Luella gave Mai a mother-look again. A firm one. "Here in England, we respond to bad dreams with tea." She pursed her lips. "Well, we respond to a lot of things with tea."

Mai giggled. "I guess I'll like it here, then. Japan is pretty serious about its tea, too."

Luella smiled and squeezed Mai's hand. "I'll be right back, dear."

"I'll be here," Mai promised. As soon as Luella disappeared, Mai bolted for the bathroom. She'd stay in the guest area alright, but she wasn't having her first real one-on-one with Naru's mother looking all bedraggled with crusty eyes.

-0O0-

Since Professor Davis was a parapsychologist, Mai had assumed that Naru's inquisitive nature came from him. And she was partially correct – Martin did ask a lot of questions. But he was rather fixated on the paranormal aspect of life (again, similar to Naru). Luella's prurient nature took a more… social form.

For one thing, Luella did not care very much about the supernatural. When Mai asked about it, Luella replied rather archly, "I suppose I have a distinct disinterest in it. I suspect it stems from despairing over the single-minded obsession with the paranormal that consumes my husband's and my son's every waking moment."

Mai had to grin. Then she tried to imagine living with two 24-hour-a-day parapsychologists. _Yikes, poor Luella_. Then a sillier part of her mind thought about spending every day with just Naru; the thought was electrifying and terrifying at once.

Thanks to her professed disinterest in the supernatural, Luella didn't press Mai for the details of her dream – for which Mai was very thankful. She wasn't up for that trial yet. Mai vaguely remembered that Luella had a degree in regular psychology, and figured that was why her people skills were so good. _At least someone in this house isn't an idiot scientist_, she thought, relieved.

Another cup of tea appeared in her line of sight. Luella handed it to her with a worried smile and Mai realized she'd been staring into space.

"Sorry, Luella-san… I mean, Luella." Naru's mother had said yesterday that she had never quite been able to get the hang of Japanese honorifics and asked if she could address them all by name. They had expected this and given her the okay. Mai shook her head to clear it and stirred her tea. The spoon thing was still kind of strange – Mai knew that it was used to stir in sugar cubes, but then why would one keep it handy after that?

"Are you feeling alright?"

Mai suddenly felt a very strong sense of déjà vu. A vision of a pajama-clad Naru handing her tea and asking a similar question appeared in front of her waking vision. Mai stared at the tea and smiled.

"In England, tea for bad dreams," she repeated. "I guess I knew that already."

Luella raised a quizzical eyebrow.

Mai smiled again. "The first time I ever had a first-person death dream, Naru gave me tea and asked if I was okay."

Naru's mother stared in fascination at Mai Taniyama's soft smile – and became more curious than ever. Yesterday, she'd been more focused on Noll's extremely interesting reactions to Mai. She had tried discussing her thoughts with Martin, but he was irritatingly focused on the exciting paranormal possibilities that their guests represented. Even after the traumatic dream incident, Martin was useless. He had sat at her dressing table writing down questions to ask Mai. Luella had barely refrained from whacking at him with a pillow.

After a couple of hours staring at the ceiling and going through the day in her head, she decided to operate under the suspicion that Noll was (unconsciously) interested in Mai. So now, Luella wanted to know more about Mai's thoughts on Noll. And if that soft and longing look Mai was currently wearing was anything to go by… then Noll might actually get a real, live girlfriend.

_No, maybe not just a girlfriend_, Luella amended in her head. _Maybe love_. Hope rose in her chest.

"Mai…" Luella said slowly, her psychology training coming to the fore. _Not too blatant, don't want to scare her off_. "What was Japan's SPR like?"

And Luella earned Mai's brightest smile yet. "It was really fun. I mean, scary, too…" She shivered a bit, and Luella thought of the case reports she actually used to go through. After reading about the insane ghost of a cult leader who collected children to 'open a pathway to another dimension' Luella had decided that ignorance was bliss.

"But I really loved it," Mai continued gushily. "It's where I met my new family, like I said last night. We actually all met on my very first case with Naru and we all stayed together after that."

Which was strange – this abundance of employees had always intrigued Martin and Luella. Noll disliked working with almost everyone – and yet in Japan, he'd had a great deal of 'very noisy' employees. "How exactly did that work – Noll just employed them all after your first case?"

Mai grinned. "Hmm… our first case – it was at my high school, you know. I first met Naru in the AV room after classes – my friends and I used to tell ghost stories there. I found out later that Naru snuck in to get information about the haunted part of the school – he was eavesdropping on my friend Keiko-chan's ghost story. I met him by accident the next day… when I, er, snuck into the haunted school house and um… accidentally whacked into a bookshelf, almost killed Lin-san, and broke a camera."

"And Noll… hired you after that?" Mai was clearly a lovely girl, but how exactly was that a good recommendation?

"Well, Lin-san was hurt after that, so Naru needed an assistant for the case. So he told me that since I'd broken his camera and injured Lin-san, I had to work off the debt."

"He did not!" Luella cried indignantly. Noll had reportedly behaved more freely in Japan – apparently, that also meant freedom from any kind of manners.

"Yeah, he did," Mai answered, rolling her eyes. "But… I actually liked working for him. I mean, he was obviously a Narcissist and a slave driver…" Another eye roll. "But he was really good at his job. And he was actually less stuck up than Ayako or Bou-san, both of whom were kinda jerky when we first met them. They were so condescending toward Naru that I wound up defending him a lot."

"And Noll allowed all that?" Luella asked, astonished.

"Well, he wasn't really there for most of it," Mai said sheepishly. "He kind of ran out after he sorta-but-not-really messed up. He was really angry with himself for missing something and we didn't hear from him for two days."

"That sounds more like it," his mother said, shaking her head.

"Then, of course, he came back with the case pretty much solved and wouldn't tell us anything. But once it was over…" Mai's eyes grew soft again. "He told the higher-ups that everyone worked together to solve the case so we'd all get credit. And a couple of days later, he called me at school and offered me a job as his assistant. He said that someone had quit – although I wonder about that…"

"No one had quit," Luella confirmed, watching Mai's face. Her vigilance was rewarded almost instantly – the girl smiled hugely.

"I knew it," she whispered. She turned knowing eyes to Luella. "Naru told me later that he knew I was an orphan – the school had said something when he asked for an address to mail my check to. He was an orphan, too – that's really why he hired me."

"He has a heart," Luella said softly. "He buries it deep, but it's in there."

Mai smiled again. "Madoka termed it, 'He's not a robot.'"

Both women laughed.

"And the other Irregulars?" Luella pressed subtly.

"Naru called them for our second case… and then they kinda just kept showing up. I remember Naru and Lin-san asking about why they were in the office all the time, and Naru complained about the noise every day… but he kept asking them to work with SPR."

So her son had initiated and continued the group's interactions… Luella was amazed. She was also a bit sad. She'd only met SPR in its Japanese form once, for such a short time. She would have loved to see Noll as the President of his own business, running the show and being… himself, but with less reserve.

"What were your other cases like?" Luella asked. She really wanted to hear Mai's more human side of the story. Her son and his assistant-slash-bodyguard took impeccable notes for Martin – but those were completely useless to Luella. She didn't really care about the description of spirits and the effects of ground sinking. She wanted to know what Noll had been thinking those two times he'd hurt himself overusing his PK.

"Well… Naru, as you must know, only takes cases he likes – and just flat-out refuses ones he doesn't find interesting enough. So, we wound up with extra-weird cases that took a lot of time and got pretty dangerous."

_Ah-ha, this was going exactly as she wanted_. Luella fought a smile. "Dangerous?" she asked off-handedly.

Mai nodded, sipping her tea. "Somebody wound up hurt or possessed on every case, I think. Like on the first one… Masako-chan fell down the stairs, we all got glass all over us, I was hit by a bookcase, Lin-san was hit by a bookcase, and John-kun almost had a ceiling collapse on him. Second case, the client's daughter almost drowned and I got yanked down a well by the spirits. On the third case, Masako-chan wound up in the hospital for a night, and I… well, I fell into a sewer and dragged Naru down with me." Mai blushed, remembering her 'own private world' with Naru.

Luella wasn't sure what to ask about first – the dangerous details of the sewer incident, which had ended with Noll in the hospital… or whatever happened that caused Mai to blush more than two years later.

The embarrassed teen chose for her. "It's sort of my fault that he wound up in the hospital… I'm pretty sure that Naru used his PK to move the rocks out of the way before we fell on them."

"How is that your fault?" Luella asked.

"Well, he was trying to help me back up – the ladder gave way underneath me and he was holding my hand. He said that I was gripping his hand so hard, he couldn't have avoided falling down with me… but I think he would have gone in with me, anyway." Mai rolled her eyes again. "Naru's too proud to just let me fall on his watch."

_Too proud and cared too much to let you fall_, his mother corrected in her head. Out loud, she asked, "Did he pass out right there?"

Mai shook her head. "No, it actually took a while. I don't know how long I was unconscious, but he was okay when I woke up and the whole time we were down there. Well, he _was_ sitting down, probably because he was feeling the strain. But then he used PK again, to play with the coin and make me feel better…"

"What?" Luella stared.

"Um, he played with a coin and made it talk to me," Mai said, looking down to (unsuccessfully) hide a blush.

Luella's eyes danced. Gene had always been the more emotional twin, and Oliver's secret method for cheering him up involved PK tricks with a coin and throwing his voice. It was something he'd picked up from one of the kids at the Children's Home (minus the PK, obviously). Luella almost couldn't believe Noll had voluntarily done it for someone else. But then again, she was quickly learning that Noll's behavior towards Mai was consistently special.

And going by this chat, Oliver was special to Mai, too. Luella felt something in her soul ease. She had been so _worried_ about Noll – he was so _uninterested_ in everything lately, and he had never really shown any desire for romantic companionship. Even her troublingly single-minded husband had been concerned about Noll's distinct lack of sociability. Mai and her companions were the surprise answer to Noll's apathy problem… and perhaps Mai could be the one to – Luella stopped herself from finishing the thought. _No jinxing it now_.

She realized that Mai was waiting for some kind of response. "Well, that's a talent of his… he used to do it often when he was younger."

Mai grinned, excited to have learned something about Naru's childhood. "It's so hard to picture sometimes – Naru being a kid."

Luella mentally celebrated at the fondness she could see in Mai's eyes. "Well, he was one of the _oldest_ children I'd ever met. Old in a… developmental sense, I mean."

Mai nodded, sympathy in her eyes. "He probably had to grow up really fast. Being an orphan with intense spiritual powers and everything."

Mrs. Davis considered the orphan with spiritual powers in front of her. "Yes, that's true. He had a tough-to-crack outer layer and he was a private person even after his father and I worked our way in. But he was always Noll – he was amazingly intelligent, frighteningly powerful, surprisingly self-assured for an orphan (Mai smiled softly), and very attached to his brother." Luella was so caught up in remembering the young twins that she forgot to be upset over Gene. "I remember once, when they had first come home with us…"

Quick steps sounded in the hallway and a worried Bou-san rushed into the room. "Mai, how are you feeling? Are you okay?"

_Ugh, Bou-saaaaaan! I was just about to find out something good!_ Mai gritted her teeth. "Yes, I'm fine," she said tightly.

Bou-san nodded in satisfaction. "Awesome. Want some breakfast?"

Her adopted father had no sense of timing. _Didn't he notice he was interrupting something?_

Luella sighed, privately enchanted by Mai's scowling at her parent-figure. She obviously wanted to keep talking. And that disgusted glare reminded her so much of her son's. "It would be lunch, actually, and I'll ask James to make something Japanese."

"Oh, it's alright, Luella," Mai waved her hands. "James-san can make whatever he wants to…"

"He's been studying up on Japanese cuisine since we found out you all would be staying for a few days. Martin's request, actually." Luella had been surprised herself at Martin's thoughtfulness. She couldn't help suspecting that Martin wanted his experimentees comfortable enough to talk shop.

"Excellent," Bou-san enthused. "I want _udon_."

"It's not a hotel!" Ayako's voice yelled from down the hall.

_Ah, well_. _Tete-a-tete over_, Luella thought. No matter. She had gotten a better idea of Mai's feelings and lots of useful information about Noll in Japan. And she confirmed that she really liked Mai – not only for Noll, but as a lovely woman in her own right.

"Alright, Mai, let's get going. I'd like to have you washed up and fed by the time the merry band of Inquisitors comes home from SPR." Luella pushed off of the edge of the bed and carried the tea tray to the door.

Mai felt a cold wave of dread pass over her. She'd forgotten about the 'long discussion' that Naru was intending to subject her to. "I can't believe they left this morning without interrogating me."

Luella stopped in the doorway and pursed her lips. "Oh, they tried. I made sure to be up before Oliver and Martin were ready and forbade them from waking you. Sometimes the two of them forget to take important matters – like recovery – into consideration when they get going. I find myself to be especially impatient with the paranormal when it interferes with health."

Mai giggled. She was sorry she'd missed that.

"Your Ayako woke up in the middle of the argument and had some rather strong words for them as well," Luella continued. "Our combined efforts successfully derailed both Noll and Martin. Oliver pouted, but we did manage to get them out the door."

So Naru would be in a great mood tonight when he interrogated her. _Better psych myself up now_, Mai thought. "Shower time," she decided. She always felt more prepared after bathing.

"That's the spirit!" Luella called as she left. Noll usually stayed at work until dinnertime, but his mother had a feeling he'd be home early today.

**AN: Until next week, folks! Please read and review!:)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Manga volume 12 would be out in English lol**

**Chapter 6 – Puzzle Pieces**

-0O0-

Mai Taniyama stared unseeingly into her cup of green tea and waited for the other shoe to drop.

The Official Inquisition – er, _concerned conversation –_ about her nightmare had gone off without a hitch. Mai had stared guiltily at the floor the entire time to avoid cracking under the soul-piercing stare she was sure Naru was wearing. Thank goodness that Yasuhara had nerves of steel; he'd done most of the talking. Martin and Luella both verbally accepted their trumped-up explanation, Lin and Madoka looked satisfied – and they'd all gone back to having dinner.

But when Mai actually found the courage to look at Naru… she flinched at the suspicion in his deep blue gaze. _So he hadn't bought it._ Mai felt her stomach tying itself into complicated knots. There was no way this was over – she just knew that Naru would find some way to corner her before long.

The mother of her silent tormentor interrupted Mai's internal panic attack.

"This is excellent green tea, Mai dear," Luella noted. "I don't think it's the brand I have in the house, though. Where did you get it?"

So she'd been upgraded to 'Mai _dear_.' Relishing the warmth blooming in her chest, Mai remembered to answer. "I raided the secret stash in Ayako's suitcase. She's got a choice blend in there."

"I brought it for you," her almost-adopted-mother mused. "You drink almost as much tea as the narcissist. There are four more boxes my other suitcase."

"But Ayako! That tea is really expensive…"

"It's all right, Mai-chan. Nothing's too good for our lovely adopted child!" Bou-san cooed, reaching to his side and giving Mai a hug.

Mai beamed back, her warm feelings increasing at the show of parental affection. "Aw, Bou-san, I love you!"

"You two are ridiculous," Ayako muttered. "An _oya-baka_ and his _ko-baka_."

"What are those?" Martin asked interestedly.

"_Oya-baka_ means 'stupid parent,'" Mai replied, giggling as she extricated herself from her adopted father's arms. "In Japan, a parent is not supposed to be overly boastful or admiring of his offspring. A father who spoils his child and tells everyone else how lovely the kid is considered an_ oya-baka_."

"And when Mai tells her _oya-baka_ how wonderful he is and how she loves him sooooo much, she is acting like a _ko-baka_, a 'stupid child.'" Ayako rolled her eyes.

"Meanwhile, who was the one who bought Mai-chan a brand-new wardrobe as a birthday present?" Bou-san asked teasingly.

"She needed new clothes for England!" Ayako defended. "And since she still insists on wearing those gloves every day, she needed several more pairs. Of decent quality!"

Mai sensed an opening for Naru to interrogate her about the scars and hurried to interrupt. "How about you guys stop this fight before it begins and pass me the sauce?"

"It's called gravy, you mouthy _ko-baka_," Ayako hissed.

"Whatever, you're the one adopting this _ko-baka_," Mai hissed back.

From down the table, Madoka looked at her star pupil; Naru was obviously burning with curiosity about the whole adoption thing. He still wouldn't ask outright, though. So Madoka took pity on him. "Adopting?" she asked.

Ayako turned to Madoka, nodding. "When I marry Houshou, I'll finally get to sign adoption papers myself. Takigawa here went and adopted Mai about a year ago. The government suddenly decided that Mai's living without any guardians was unacceptable and were going to unemancipate her after high school and put her in an orphanage. We obviously couldn't have that – and we'd already told her a million times that we would adopt her."

Mai turned pink. "I didn't want you guys to have to deal with adopting me," she replied softly, turning pink again. "Not that I'm not very grateful." Both of Mai's parental figures smiled warmly.

"After senior year?" Luella questioned. "Why would they bother uprooting you if you were turning eighteen in a few months' time?"

"In Japan, one is considered a minor until age twenty," Naru answered smoothly, beating Mai to it. She glared. Naru had to physically stop himself from smirking – his knew that his parents were paying close attention to his interactions with their guests. Yesterday, he had forgotten his decision to remain aloof and taunted Mai quite a bit – and he could already see the gears in his mother's head turning.

Madoka _hmmed_ in thought. "What made them decide to unemancipate you, anyway?"

Mai rolled her eyes. "I attract more spiritual attention than most people." Madoka raised an eyebrow, confused. "I racked up eight big hospital bills in a year," she explained.

Across the table, Naru's eyes widened slightly. _Eight hospital trips?_ A trickle of something cold worked its way through his veins.

"Apparently the government frowns upon that," Yasuhara added. "Meanwhile, they couldn't have cared less that_ I_ was in the hospital four times. As long as I went home to my parents' house afterwards… my mom could have been beating me for all they knew."

"Yasu!" Mai remonstrated. "Don't even joke about that! Remember the case we had where the son had been killed by the crazy mom?"

"That's probably why he's bringing it up," Ayako noted. "After all, the third time Yasu was in the hospital was because the ghost of that mother beat the crap out of him."

"Lunatic even broke my glasses," Yasuhara informed the table. "And they weren't covered by health insurance."

Mai huffed. "Those new glasses – brand-name, overly-priced – were paid for by TTMPI as part of your hazard pay. Shut up."

Madoka giggled. "Ha, Mai-chan, you sound like a middle-aged office manager. It's not like it was your money or something."

The teenage psychic suddenly looked very uncomfortable. Most of the British contingent was so caught up in imagining cases that would cause so many hospital visits that they failed to notice Mai's interesting reaction, but Madoka did. She pursed her lips and wondered.

-0O0-

By the time the group retired to the sitting room, Naru thought he had isolated what was bothering him (other than the niggle of care he was forced to acknowledge concerning the EIGHT hospital trips). Why was Mai okay with telling them about cases in Japan, hospital trips and her adoption… but not last night's dream? And if her eventual goal was to do research with Martin, why didn't she want to go to SPR this morning?

His scientific brain ran through her possible motives. Was there a reason to hide the details of this particular psychic dream from him? She'd obviously been more open with Bou-san, Ayako and Yasuhara. Though there _was_ obviously something… off about their explanation. Not to mention that Mai hadn't ever had a repeat dream before.

Naru considered the psychological implications of a repeat dream. It would indicate emotional closeness to the individual dreamed about - but Mai said she'd only met the woman once. Also… if she'd had a dream about a spirit murdered nearby, why hadn't this TTMPI exorcised it? Yasuhara had said that the police dealt with it, which would presumably have satisfied the spirit. But if the spirit was eased, then shouldn't the dream have stopped coming? Objectively, the group's explanation was still possible. But knowing Mai (and her powers) the way Naru did, it didn't make enough sense.

Then Naru considered the shifty looks Ayako had thrown Yasuhara, and the unhappiness in Bou-san's face. He had associated these anomalies with Mai's unwillingness to provide clear details, but what if it was something else? Mai hadn't looked at him the entire time she'd half-heartedly explained the dream. She tended to do that when ashamed of something… Was it possible that they were all lying? Naru narrowed his eyes in consternation.

He kept coming back to Mai's effort to hide the details from the English side – himself, Lin, Madoka, and his family – and the pained look in Mai's eyes while she spoke. Naru couldn't be sure of everyone else's motives for lying … but if Mai were doing so (and with that look in her eyes), it would be because she felt that telling them the truth would be hurtful.

Satisfied with his reasoning, Naru decided to operate using the hypothesis that Mai was lying because she didn't want to hurt them. Since Naru nor his family had any connection to some woman in Mai's neighborhood, she couldn't feel the need to hide such a dream from them. The most logical alternative, then, was that the dream was really about someone else. And the SPR affiliate Mai knew best was Naru, so it was probably really his feelings she was sparing. That would mean the dream was most likely about someone connected to himself. Someone that Mai thought would hurt him to hear about…

Naru's eyes went wide and his teacup stilled halfway to his mouth. The only person that Mai would feel she had to avoid speaking about in such a way was... Gene.

_Was it possible?_ Oliver Davis closed his eyes to avoid giving away his internal disquiet. Mai _did_ have a significant psychic connection to Gene; he'd guided her through SPR's cases back in Japan. She'd also been to the site where his body had been found; maybe the echoes of his demise had connected with her death-vision ability.

_Plus_, Naru thought, his fingers twitching on the handle of his cup, _Mai had romantic feelings for Gene._ It was entirely possible that her psychic powers held onto his memory, which unfortunately may have manifested in repeated dreams of his death. Naru certainly still had nightmares about it. It would definitely account for her reticence to talk about her dream – especially in front of his parents. He stared hard at Mai, as if looking at her for long enough would somehow reveal the truth.

A few feet away, Mai sensed Naru's intense focus on her and quickly excused herself to the kitchen for a snack. She needed to come up with a distraction to draw Naru's attention away from the dream.

-0O0-

Only after ten minutes and three cookies did Mai feel up to returning to the group, not sure about what to do. On her way back to her comfy chair, the still-unnerved young woman tripped over the edge of a throw rug. Mai fell into her seat, hitting her knee against the table.

Bou-san sighed beside her, feigning exasperation. "Jou-chan, I don't understand," he began. "How can you take formal meditation lessons and still be so clumsy and… unaware?"

This question drew Naru out of his broody fog. _Mai had studied meditation?_ He exchanged a glance with an equally interested Lin.

Ayako nodded in agreement (miracle of miracles) with her fiancé. "And it's not like you're terrible at it – you're actually very poised and alert when you're in the zone. So how come the instant you're out of 'meditation mode' you're back to faceplanting into floors?"

Mai fake-glared, narrowing her eyes in fake irritation. The argument to come might be exactly what she needed to deflect Naru's watchful suspiciousness! "When I'm meditating, I'm just thinking about meditating," she said, rolling her eyes. "You know I suck at multitasking."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Mai knew it had been a bad thing to say. Yasuhara was going to jump all over this...

Her best friend was on point from the moment Mai finished speaking; his glasses flashed in the light. "Well, you know my theory about Mai-chan and multitasking," he said leadingly.

_Bait_, Mai thought with an internal growl.

And Ayako took it. "What theory are you talking about?"

Yasuhara gave her a deceptively innocent smile. "Remember when you guys told me about the 'animal intuition' thing?" he started. Here he paused, wanting to clarify it for Naru's confused parents. "You see, Big Boss reckoned that Mai-chan's helpful gut feelings during cases could be likened to animal nature. That, like an animal, she recognizes friend from foe and has a natural instinct for self-defense and the safety of those she feels responsibility for."

Luella took a moment to glare at her son. "You couldn't have found a comparison that was less degrading to a lovely girl and her obviously valuable paranormal abilities?"

Naru shrugged. "It seemed the most effective way to explain my conclusions."

Mai made an irritated noise. Naru looked up, and the two of them locked eyes. Hers were glaringly angry, his were amused and smug. _Why had she missed him again?  
><em>She was so pissed off at his narcissistic-ness that she didn't realize her distraction plan was working.

Yasuhara continued as if oblivious to this side drama. "So, assuming Big Boss is right about those applications of Mai-chan's 'animal nature,' I figure they could stem to other aspects of life. Namely Mai-chan's confounding suckiness at multitasking, her decidedly short attention span, and of course, her ability to sleep for at least twice the amount of time necessary for most people."

Bou-san burst out laughing. Ayako had been tittering since the second quip about Mai's attention span (something that Ayako herself constantly harped on about). Even Lin's mouth twitched repeatedly.

Naru couldn't help himself. His smirk became full-blown – and Mai's glare turned deadly.

"Naru…" she hissed through gritted teeth.

"I didn't say it, your esteemed research partner did," Naru replied, smirking still.

Mai's eyes narrowed to slits… but Naru had a point. She swung her gaze to Yasuhara, intent on revenge.

"Hmph," she scoffed. "This from the person with the attention span of a bug when it comes to relationships." Mai smirked herself now.

"A bug?" Madoka repeated, eyebrows up.

"Yes. Have you ever seen how Yasu reacts to a hot girl in the immediate vicinity? He immediately drops whatever he's doing or thinking and goes after the girl with a single-minded determination that borders on creepy…"

Yasuhara pouted.

"…And then he drops her like a rock as soon as the next '7 or above' comes along," Mai continued, wanting to make sure she got Yasu as thoroughly as he got her.

Yasuhara, however, was less easily castigated than Mai. He pushed his glasses up his nose and Mai held her breath, preparing for the worst.

But instead of giving it right back, Yasuhara only stuck his tongue out at Mai and sipped his coffee. Then he and Madoka discussed what girl would be considered a '7 or above.' When Yasuhara noticed that Mai was still waiting for his next attack, he winked at her.

She stared, not understanding. Yasuhara cut his eyes to Naru and winked again.

Mai got it. Yasu, in a rare show of humanity, decided to spare her from further humiliation in front of Naru. A.K.A., he let her win. He did tend to cut down the witty remarks when he knew she was really frazzled, and they had all had a pretty nerve-wracking day. And a quick glance at Naru's too-sharp eyes told her that it wasn't over yet. Distraction plan failed.

Naru studied Mai as he leafed through case notes. Yasuhara's sneaky eye-communication with Mai had reminded him that the two had probably colluded to hide Mai's real dream-problem from him. He couldn't let Yasuhara's interesting theory about Mai's animal behaviors distract him from his greater goal.

Mai still smiled gratefully at Yasuhara, despite feeling defeated by Naru's non-sucky multitasking ability. She decided to drink her green tea - the familiar taste soothed her nerves considerably. She tapped her spoon against her teacup and calmly asked Martin about any material she and Yasu should study before term started.

-0O0-

After much yawning, the entire party decided it was time for bed. Madoka and Lin left for the night, heading out the door together. Which of course made Mai wonder whether they were dating – wouldn't that be interesting? She tried to imagine Lin as a boyfriend and ended up with a headache.

Mai stayed behind everyone else to clean up the tea. Luella tried to stop her, but Mai was firm. James had gone home and she had made the mess. Bou-san cooed at 'his jou-chan's housewife instincts,' Ayako smacked him, and Mai ignored them until she was alone.

Then she waited with baited breath for Naru to creep back into the room and start in on her. But he didn't show. With a sigh of relief, she collected all the empty cups and saucers and headed for the kitchen.

About halfway there, Mai stopped dead. The now-empty kitchen was the perfect place for a surprise ambush! Naru would know that everyone else was upstairs and he would be cutting off her access to the back staircase. Mai gulped. Not knowing what else to do, she walked into the lion's den with mounting trepidation.

-0O0-

Sure enough, Naru was waiting for her at the kitchen table. Mai contemplated making a break for the stairs and hiding until he found something else to do.

Then her thoughts of escape were derailed by the cup of tea she saw on the table, waiting at the empty spot across from Naru. Another cup sat steaming before him, untouched. He was staring out the window and fingering the edge of his black casebook.

Upon seeing the book, Mai snorted. _Was she a customer now?_ Unfortunately, her ill-timed response gave her away. Naru's head swiveled to face her and dark blue laser beams of doom speared Mai in place. _Damn it._

Naru stared Mai down. She glared back mutinously... until realizing that this was probably the best time to do this. Ayako, Bou-san and Yasu had promised not to tell Naru about Gene's continued visits, but Mai honestly didn't know how long they'd last against a suspicious Dr. Oliver Davis. It was probably better to head this off alone. Mai had the most riding on lasting secrecy, anyway.

Gritting her teeth, she slowly set the tea tray near the sink and dropped into the chair across from Naru. Mai sipped the hot tea and resumed their glaring contest.

Naru actually looked away first, sliding his book open to a fresh page. "Are you feeling better tonight?" he asked softly.

Mai was thrown. First the tea, then asking about her condition? Had he gone nuts? "Ah, yes, I do. Thanks, Naru." Mai smiled over the teacup.

Naru nodded, his blue gaze drawing her in like it always did. Usually he'd make a crack about her obvious attraction to him, but he said nothing. This gave Mai another moment to take him in – she hadn't been alone with him in a while...

"Was the vomiting a reaction to your choking in the dream?" Naru's hypnotic voice asked gently.

"Yes," Mai replied absently. "It's because I –" And here she caught herself. What was she thinking, answering his questions? That sneaky jerk was trying to lull her into a false sense of security! _And it worked_, her mind noted. "You – you tricked me!" Mai accused, banging a fist on the table.

"I knew you were going to be difficult, so I took advantage of your observed weakness to my face," Naru replied nonchalantly. He scribbled something in his book.

Mai's mouth worked furiously, but nothing came out. She finally recovered enough to insult him. "You narcissistic, underhanded…"

"Because you what?" Naru cut her off.

"Huh?" Mai asked, momentarily derailed.

"You said that you were choking because you…" he waved a hand in encouragement." What is the end of that sentence?"

Mai clammed up immediately, crossing her arms and pressing her lips together for emphasis.

Naru glowered. "I'm not sure why you're being so difficult," he intoned. "Have you developed a macabre enjoyment of death visions in the last two years?"

Mai narrowed her eyes but stayed silent. He was trying to bait her.

Naru broke eye contact and wrote something else down in the book. Mai relaxed infinitesimally before realizing that he was probably trying to throw her off again.

"I didn't think so," Naru noted. Without changing his tone, he said, "The only other explanation for your reticence is that you believe that re-telling this particular dream will upset someone in this house."

Mai's eyes bugged. _How had he figured that out?_

Naru observed Mai's telling reaction and nodded in satisfaction. "You don't like causing others to worry for you, so I initially figured that you hadn't told anyone about the content of the dream. But then Ayako said that you had told them something more about it last night. I believe she was speaking of the details of your _real_ dream and not the hastily constructed lie the bunch of you told us at dinner. So if you've told them, then you must be reluctant to tell me because you feel that I will be personally affected by it."

Naru stared out the window the entire time he was saying this, but Mai watched his hands clench and unclench around his pen and teacup. She hesitantly stretched out with her senses and felt the pain swirling in Naru's aura. _Pain… and sorrow_. He already knew, didn't he?

"I…" Mai stopped. She didn't know what to say.

Naru got up suddenly, walking over to the refrigerator. "You don't have to worry about hiding it from me," he said in a frightening monotone. "Although I must thank you for sparing my parents this discussion." He pulled a container of milk out of the fridge. "Last night, I would have immediately suspected that Gene was the subject of your dream – your visions are usually brought on by proximity to a spirit, and Gene's spirit is sometimes… near this house. But I was thrown by the repetitive nature of the dream," he continued calmly, as if talking about the weather. "That doesn't gel with the proximity theory. I was told you'd been having the vision for months."

Mai felt like throwing up again. "I… I have."

Naru turned back to face her then. "Why do you think that is?"

Mai took a cue from her former boss and stared out the window. "I don't know why."_ I know exactly why. _"Sometimes when I think about him before I go to sleep, it happens." True enough, and Mai believed that _had_ been what had caused last night's episode.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Naru flinch at her words and felt awful. Awful for having to talk about this, awful for lying, awful since she knew Naru had seen the same vision.

The object of her self-hatred was actually having quite a hard time with this questioning. Naru's realization that Mai was probably dreaming about his twin's death had been shocking, sobering and painful all at once. Hearing her confirm it caused him no relief. And for some reason, Mai's admitting that she sometimes thought about Gene before going to sleep sent a twisting sensation through his gut. Was it because he felt bad that she loved someone who was dead? Naru shook his head and willed himself to focus. They needed to get this done before anyone noticed they hadn't gone to bed.

"I suppose that thinking about a person you are psychically connected to could conceivably trigger your powers," Naru stated thoughtfully. "And considering your current location, it makes sense that you would have such a dream on your first night in this house. This is where Gene lived and is more suffused with his presence than I would imagine any other place is."

Naru could tell that Mai hadn't thought of that possibility. "Since you are apparently attuned to auras now, I figured your heightened sensitivity might have prompted last night's vision."

Mai nodded slowly. It was possible – no, probable.

"And you've provided a good theory as to why you see the dream repeatedly. It is interesting that merely thinking about a lost lov – _person_ can cause death visions," Naru noted, feeling the twisting again. Fist clenched, he tried to posit his next question in a gentler manner. "Does that occur when you think about any other deceased person of your acquaintance?"

He was trying very hard not to directly mention her parents, Mai knew. She smiled at Naru to let him know she appreciated it. "No," she replied. "But I don't actually think it's just thinking about the person that does it." She had to be careful, now. She couldn't tell him that she could still see Gene, but she would give him a little more information. Maybe that would be enough to placate him and end this painful conversation.

Naru was all ears. He was sitting down again, milk poured, tea lightened, pen poised over paper.

"I think it's because of the psychic connection," Mai said slowly. "I mean, I don't see visions of my parents' deaths." _Thank goodness_, she added mentally. _One repeat trauma is enough for me_.

Naru considered her words. It matched his own thoughts and would make sense – except that Gene's body was back in England and at rest. Any psychic connection between Gene and Mai should have been severed. Then again, Gene's _spirit_ was not yet at rest, and Naru knew for a fact that all psychic connections did not sever right away. After all, Naru himself saw Gene at times – they communicated via mirrors. It was hard to 'wake up' (as Gene termed it) enough to talk, but his medium twin occasionally managed it. Naru's psychic bond with Gene had not yet disappeared, so why should Mai's have completely terminated?

"Anyway," Mai said, hoping to end this session before she gave anything else away. "The dream's been coming with less and less frequency. I'm pretty sure it will stop on its own." And it would, most likely – once Gene decided to pass on.

Naru eyed her speculatively. _She is eager to stop talking about this_, he surmised. He was slightly suspicious… but he knew that this was an exceedingly difficult and painful subject for both of them. It was entirely plausible that Mai just didn't want to discuss it anymore. Remembering her motives for lying earlier, it was also possible that Mai simply didn't want to hurt him, Naru, by continuing to talk about Gene. Naru's face softened.

"Alright," he said aloud. "We will monitor these… episodes as long as they continue. If anything changes for the worse, we will have to revisit this."

Visibly relieved, Mai nodded and smiled. She leapt up from her chair and grabbed both of their empty teacups. When she turned on the kettle instead of rushing to bed, Naru threw her a quizzical glance.

"Don't you want more tea, Boss?" she asked brightly.

Naru's lips lifted in a half-smile. "Obviously, Mai."

-0O0-

AN: The chapter title (Puzzle Pieces) is definitely linked to Naru figuring out part of what Mai is hiding. But it also has to do with Mai and Naru adjusting to each other again and coming back together like puzzle pieces;)

Yasuhara's theory concerning Mai's expanded 'animal nature' is inspired by one of my favorite stories, _The Dawn Daydreamer_, by Jumping Beans of Doom. The author focuses on the effects of Mai's animal instincts on her spiritual powers, which made me wonder how the animal nature thing might affect her everyday life. In chapter one, the author says she hopes her story inspires other writers in the fandom – it inspired me, lol.

Until next week! Please read and review!:)


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Again, ghost hunter babies by now.**  
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**Chapter 7 – Casual Sex and Cases-By-Phone**

-0O0-

The rest of the night and the following day went by at a pretty fast clip – mostly because all they did was sleep and eat. Ayako and Mai woke up in the middle of the night, watched a bit of television, and fell back into bed until lunch time. Lin and Madoka had come for dinner again. Mai was pleased to realize that they really were (quietly) a couple. After another lovely after-dinner tea with the whole group, Professor and Mrs. Davis set up a movie night in the front sitting room. Mai had collapsed into her comfy chair and hadn't stirred from it in over four hours.

However, she was finally getting tired at one in the morning, England-time. She knew that it was 9AM in Tokyo and she would normally be rolling out of bed now. But between the plane ride, the very long day yesterday, and napping today, Mai's internal clock was almost fully switched over.

She and Bou-san were only still awake because they were waiting for Yasuhara to get back. He had declared that he needed to go for a walk… five hours ago. He was also no longer answering his cell phone, so they couldn't help but be nervous. Mai figured that Yasuhara had stopped at a bar – she had gotten a drunk text about "bangers" about three hours ago. Lin informed her that "bangers" meant sausages in British slang, so he was probably having a snack at a local bar.

Mai rolled her eyes. _Of course_ Yasuhara was at a bar, as he hadn't had a girlfriend or a one-night stand in about a month. He was probably hitting on some poor, unsuspecting English undergrad right about now. But seriously, couldn't he just wait until they were living in the apartment to chase girls? Martin and Luella had been waiting for him, too. They had given up about an hour ago. Yasu probably looked really irresponsible right now. (In her righteous anger, Mai conveniently forgot that she had already mentioned Yasu's womanizing ways in front of their professor and his wife).

Naturally, Naru and Lin were both still awake and going over case files. Mai had long suspected that neither of them really slept for more than a few hours at a time. Madoka was still at the house, too, but she was peacefully snoozing on the couch.

Mai's eyes felt very heavy. She shifted in her cushy seat and forced herself to wake back up. She pulled _The Science Behind the Supernatural_ back into her lap and picked up on page 175. The author was going on about temperature signals that identified different types of spirits. Interesting, although Mai already knew most of it from her fieldwork.

Her phone rang, shattering the companionable silence. Yasu. Mai answered quickly, not wanting to wake Madoka. "Where are you, you moron?" she whispered furiously into the phone.

"Right outside, come open the door?"

Mai unfolded herself and got out of the chair, "He's back." She walked to the front door and unlocked it, then turned away from the source of her ire. She waited until she was back in her comfy chair before fixing her primary researcher with a glare. Yasuhara just grinned gleefully at her.

"You suck at life," Mai hissed. "You couldn't just wait until _after_ we'd moved into the apartment to disappear and bar hop? Do you know how flaky you probably look to the Professor now?"

"Mai-chan, I wasn't bar_ hopping_. I only went to one bar!"

Madoka snorted a bit at his response, apparently having been woken up by the argument. Mai could tell that Naru and Lin were listening, too.

"Whatever, you made everybody stay up for… wait! You were in the same bar for five hours? That's not like you." Mai was curious now.

Yasu grinned cheekily. "Of course not, Mai-chan. I was only in the bar for two hours."

So then where had he gone? Mai considered the possibilities. The only reasons that Yasuhara ever called it a night were if: 1) He was too drunk to stand – and right now, he only looked mildly intoxicated; 2) If she (Mai) complained enough about going home – and of course she hadn't been there; or 3) He left with a girl. _Huh_. He did look really smug right now. _Wow_.

"No way," Mai breathed, kind of awed. Lin and Naru exchanged confused glances.

"Yes way," Yasuhara grinned wider.

"But we've only been here for two days!" Mai shook her head.

"I am that awesome."

"Wha – Yasu, you got laid already?" Bou-san joined the conversation.

Madoka choked on the cold tea she was sipping. Lin and Naru both froze.

"Yessir," Yasuhara affirmed, growing smugger by the second. He turned to Mai. "Remember what He-Who-Shall-Remain-Nameless said about foreign accents?"

Mai glared. She did not want to talk about That Person right now. She also noticed that Naru had perked up a bit at the mention of a mysterious person. He loved a puzzle.

Yasuhara decided not to wait for Mai's answer. "He said that Japanese girls find foreign accents attractive, remember? Well, apparently it works the other way around, too! I had a _lot_ of fans."

Naru was completely distracted by this inane conversation, much to his displeasure. He couldn't help it, though. His former employees, including the fresh-faced Mai, were talking completely normally about casual sex. He didn't quite know how to feel about this unexpected development. And who was this mystery person who Mai obviously did not like? Foreign, apparently, and a womanizer. But apparently all three of them knew him – Bou-san had glared at the mention of his non-name, too.

Yasuhara was still bragging. "So, yeah, even though Bou-san's the rock star, I'm the one who got some my first night out in a new country."

Mai rolled her eyes. "You are _such_ a _man-whore_."

Madoka burst out laughing... and Naru choked on his own spit. _What_ did she just say?

"And thoroughly happy to be one," Yasuhara replied, "Hm, I think this is going to be a good college experience." He kicked back on the couch next to Madoka.

Bou-san snorted. "Better not sit too close to him, Madoka-san. You might get pregnant."

It was Lin's turn to choke, and Naru smirked despite himself. Reactions like that from Lin were rare.

Mai rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you don't have a brood of illegitimate children already, Yasu. And Ayako's right – at the rate you're going, you'll wind up with some kind of disease."

Naru and Lin choked simultaneously.

"That's what penicillin is for, Mai-chan," Yasuhara replied airily. "I'm going to bed – again. See everybody tomorrow!"

Mai and Bou-san exchanged a long-suffering glance. After a moment, Bou-san got up and stretched.

"I'm turning in, too," he said to the room. "Let's keep Yasuhara's adventures to ourselves, Mai. I really don't want to have to listen to another of Ayako's hour-long lectures on health and responsibility."

Mai nodded. "Agreed." She opened her book again. "I'm staying up a little longer. I would much rather go to bed thinking about paranormal temperature differentials than Yasu's sex life."

Cue another choking fit for Naru. Lin chuckled.

"Paranormal temperature differentials over sex? There's something wrong with you, Mai-chan!" Yasuhara stage-whispered from upstairs.

"Yasu, you had better be in bed when I get up there!" Bou-san threatened.

"Ooh, are you getting in with me?"

"_Shounen!_" Bou-san sounded stricken. "I thought we agreed that you would knock that off!"

Mai banged her head against her book. "Everybody shut it!" she snarled. "I'm trying to read here!"

Naru stared. Lin chuckled again. Bou-san just shook his head incredulously and trudged upstairs.

"Wow, did I really just say that?" Mai wondered aloud. "So I want everyone to shut up because I'm reading, Bou-san's ordering Yasu to be in bed before he gets in, and Lin has laughed at least three times today. I guess that settles it - the world must be coming to an end."

Madoka made an amused noise and reached for the TV remote. "Then let's have a Paranormal Investigator Slumber Party and watch another movie while the earth burns around us. I don't feel like driving home and those two idiot scientists will be at it for another couple of hours."

Mai closed her book with a snap. "Sounds good to me. I'll make some tea." She shuffled off to the kitchen, intending to change into pajamas while the water boiled.

-0O0-

Oliver Davis was feeling slightly… lost. Somehow, he expected the members of SPR to always remain the same, hunting ghosts and arguing and throwing office parties in Japan. He was reassured that they were all still recognizably _themselves_… but all that (internal shudder) _sex-talk_ reminded him that Ma – that everybody was two years older, and that they'd all developed and changed without him there. Naru felt like he'd missed out somehow – and then shook his head, annoyed with his focus on something so trivial. He _was_ very tired.

A few minutes later, Mai returned with a tray of teacups. Naru followed her progress toward him out of the corner of his eye, and finally looked up as Mai handed him a steaming cup of Earl Grey. Naru's drowsy mind absently registered that she looked adorable in a bathrobe and pink socks. _Older and more world-wise, but still Mai_.

Mai smiled sleepily at Naru's soft look. After a moment, he broke their gaze and re-focused on the file in front of him.

Unfazed at his lack of verbal acknowledgement, Mai set Lin's tea down and walked back to the couch. She gave Madoka a cup and re-settled under a blanket. It felt nice, sitting here in the cozy sitting room with her long-missed SPR members. An ear-splitting grin spread across Mai's face.

Naru watched Mai and Madoka on the couch for a moment, sipping his tea. Delicious as always. Naru felt oddly peaceful and decided not to bother with the why. He glanced at Mai again.

Lin noticed the direction of his one-time charge's gaze and smiled slightly. "Five quid says Taniyama-san falls asleep in 10 minutes."

-0O0-

On day five of their visit, Mai and company were still with the Davis family. The four Japanese visitors had been due to move into their apartment on day three – only it turned out that the air conditioning wasn't working. Ayako, ever the princess, refused to sleep without climate control and arranged for a two-night hotel stay. Luella, ever the proper English hostess, recommended coercively that the foursome remain in the Davis home until the apartment was ready. Ayako (not really looking forward to packing and unpacking four times in as many days) agreed happily.

The apartment would actually be ready sometime today – but Mai still hadn't repacked. She had slept in after a late night argument about spiritual-presence detection with Martin, Naru and Madoka. Mai smiled into her morning tea. It was really fun to argue with Naru when she actually knew what she was talking about!

Not that she came away with a victory, though – Naru somehow managed to come up with about four different arguments for his favored methods. Mai had felt out of her league again – but she brightened now, remembering that she _had_ held her own. And one of the methods Madoka had mentioned involved her powers – she and Yasuhara had new ideas for tests to run on Wednesday!

Hmm. Wednesday – their usual Testing Day – was in two days, and they had nowhere to conduct them. The estate's backyard was big enough, but what if it rained? And any wind would mess up her results. Mai listened to Luella and Madoka talk about the rising prices of tea with half an ear, trying to come up with a location for her testing/training.

Suddenly, her cell phone sang the first few bars of Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus." John was calling! Mai excused herself and stepped into the hallway to take the call.

"Hello, John-kun?" Mai greeted brightly.

"Mai-chan!" he replied, his tone warm even through the phone.

"Hey!" she smiled. "What's up?"

"Well, of course I want to know how you're doing in England, Mai-chan. But that'll have to wait a bit. I need help with figuring out the ghost's location."

"Huh? What ghost?" Mai was totally lost.

"The ghost in our client's… Mai-chan, didn't Bou-san tell you? I called him last night for his opinion on the exorcism." John sounded confused.

"Client? You're on a _case?_" Mai turned toward the dining room, where she could see Bou-san talking with everyone. Luella and Madoka had joined the group at the table.

"Well, yeah." John's tone became nervous. "We're admittedly short-handed at the moment, but we accepted the case because the ghost keeps dragging people into a river at the edge of the property. It was only a matter of time before someone drowned."

"Yes, that makes sense," Mai agreed tersely. TTMPI was on a case and Mai didn't know. She stalked toward Bou-san, out for blood.

"And I wasn't sure what kind of exorcism to perform, so I called Bou-san." John had apparently heard the danger signs in Mai's tone; his own voice rose in panic.

Mai swept into the dining room like an avenging angel. She came up behind Bou-san and slapped him hard upside the head, barely noticing that everyone stopped talking and stared.

"Ow!" Bou-san cried, surprised. "What was that for?"

"I just wanted his opinion," John said quickly, tone thoroughly panicky now.

"I understand, John-kun, you did the right thing," Mai replied consolingly, "I'm not mad at YOU." She glared daggers at Bou-san.

"Oh," Bou-san muttered, looking guilty. "I was going to tell you after breakfast, Mai-chan. You were up late last night… I didn't want to burden you!"

Mai threw him a scathing look and went back to her phone call.

As the group at the table watched Bou-san rub his head, Naru became lost in thought. John Brown and probably Masako Hara were on a case in Japan. But… why was Mai upset that Bou-san had known and she hadn't? Mai was in England for an extended period of time, so why should she expect to be in the loop with the company she was working for in Japan? Which reminded him, he really wanted to ask about this TTMPI that everyone worked for. Who was the owner of this company that had hired away all of his employees?

Not that Naru should _care_ about his employees working for someone else. It wasn't like he was returning to Japan… even if he might actually want to. Naru pushed this thought away and refocused on the events at hand.

Mai was still questioning John. "Did you call Bou-san because you needed a tie-breaker or something, John-kun? I know that Masako-chan would vote against _jorei_. What does she think about the spirit, anyway?"

Bou-san winced and Naru's eyes flew to Mai.

"WHAT?" Mai cried. She turned back to Bou-san and immediately started to beat him around the head and shoulders. "_How and when did this happen?_"

_Hara-san must've gotten hurt_, Naru guessed. And Bou-san neglected to tell Mai. Naru could understand why she was upset about that; Mai had always been very concerned about her friends. She hated when people got hurt. He saw that Mai was now listening very hard to John, every once in a while throwing a hard glare at Takigawa. Suddenly feeling someone's gaze, Naru looked up and noticed that Madoka, Yasuhara _and_ his mother were all watching him. Did they expect him to burst into flames or something?

Yasuhara grinned as Naru became aware that several people were watching him stare (unblinkingly) at Mai. Yasu was used to the way that Naru reacted to Mai (even though Naru himself didn't seem to understand the significance), but it was fun seeing Mrs. Davis' shock at her son's interest. Yasuhara and Madoka exchanged a secret gleeful glance.

Meanwhile, Mai was _pissed_. Not only had Bou-san neglected to tell her that John and Masako were on a (dangerous) case, but apparently a spirit had pulled Masako out of a first-floor window and yanked her through the garden. She had been halfway to the on-property river when John saved her by throwing an entire bottle's worth of holy water at the spirit. John had apparently been in base when he heard Masako scream and saw a thermal image of the spirit drag the medium through the window.

Masako was scared afterwards, obviously. Her arm was injured where the ghost had grabbed it and pulled, and she'd been scratched up pretty badly as she was dragged along the ground. John had sent her to the hospital. Mai supported his decision.

"But John-kun," Mai interrupted, "I don't want you there by yourself. It's bad enough that it was just the two of you, but you can't see the spirit without a medium. Plus, it's not limited to the grounds, if it pulled Masako-chan from the house and to the river. Get everybody out of the house, wait for Masako-chan to come back, and I think you should also call Father Toujo for an extra set of hands."

She saw Naru and Lin exchange identical looks of surprise. Mai cringed internally, knowing she sounded like a lead investigator.

"I sent the family away last night," John replied, "And Masako-san should be back tomorrow, but I don't want to wait that long. They have neighbors that could be attacked. And Father Toujo is with me now."

A cry of "_Konbanwa_, Mai-chan!" sounded in the background. There was a brief scuffling noise as the phone changed hands.

"Happy to assist!" Father Toujo continued in Japanese. "We have decided to exorcise the ghost using_ jorei_ tonight, as without Hara-san, there is no other option."

Mai grimaced. She hated having to utilize_ jorei_. That type of exorcism 'killed' the ghost, erasing its existence completely from the world. She and Masako preferred _jourei_, or helping the spirit to move on. However, John and Father Toujo had a point.

"Good evening, Father Toujo, and unfortunately, I think you're right," Mai said with a sigh. She noticed that Martin was staring at her confusedly. Mai realized that she had unconsciously switched back to Japanese and now the professor couldn't understand her.

Naru was surprised to hear Mai revert to her native tongue. She was talking to Father Toujo; John had already summoned him. Father Brown obviously had the same idea that Mai had – increasing the number of spiritualists on the case. Naru wasn't sure why, but he felt _relieved_ at hearing Mai speak Japanese. It sounded more… normal to hear Japan's familiar cadences from her lips.

Mai caught Naru's eye and was momentarily shocked to see the soft look there. What was he thinking about?

"The only problem," Father Toujo continued, "...is that if the ghost can wander freely outside, how can we trap it for the exorcism?"

"Well," Mai said thoughtfully, "I guess you're going to have to lure it somewhere. Where does it appear most often?"

The phone changed hands again. "In the garden, Mai-chan," John replied. "And Masako-san said that the spirit is someone who killed a woman he loved by drowning her in the river. Apparently she cheated on him. The spirit dragged Masako-san out because she tried to reason with him about it. She suspected it would be a futile effort, though… she doubted the possibility of removing him with_ jourei_ even before she got hurt."

"Great, a violent murderer," Mai muttered, switching back to English for Martin's sake.

"But… I don't think that the ghost can actually get in the house, Mai-chan," John continued. "It never appears there. Masako-san leaned out of the window to argue with it, and that's when it grabbed her."

"Alright, well at least you're safe there," Mai nodded, slightly reassured. She hated not being there and not knowing all this already. "So then does the ghost always follow that pattern? Dragging people out that one window?"

"Yes, according to the family," John replied. "Do you want me to send you some video?"

"That would be awesome," Mai replied gratefully, "Give me a second." She walked over to Yasu's messenger bag and pulled out his laptop. After turning it on, she hit a couple of buttons to call up the video connection program.

"Of course you can use my laptop," Yasuhara said sarcastically – but Mai was too focused to care at the moment.

"You should put the phone on speaker, Mai," Ayako suggested.

Mai nodded absently and pressed the requested button. Everyone else was up and moving towards her now.

John's voice echoed in the sitting room. "Okay, Mai-chan, I just activated the video connector on my end. You should be seeing something in a minute."

A video feed of a Japanese garden and a lovely old house popped into Yasuhara's screen. "This is the live feed," Mai noted. "Can you send me the feed of the attack from this view? How many cameras caught it?"

"Coming right up, Mai-chan!" John agreed happily. "And four cameras caught it. Two in the garden, one in the room that Masako-san was standing in, and one that we set up by the river."

"How close did she get to the river?" Lin asked.

"Lin-san!" John exclaimed. "So nice to hear your voice! Masako-san had been dragged about halfway to the river when I got there. It seemed to vanish temporarily after I doused it in holy water, but I can still feel its presence."

Mai's fingers flew over the keys, and she successfully split the screen to view all four feeds at once. They were kinda tiny, though. Mai glanced around the room, eyes locking on the large flat screen television mounted on the wall.

"Professor Davis?" Mai asked in her nicest voice. "Can I maybe commandeer that TV for a little bit? The laptop screen is too small to really see anything."

"Of course!" Martin replied jovially. "Plus, that way we can all help!"

Mai smiled warmly and then turned to Yasuhara.

"Way ahead of you, Mai-chan," he replied. "The connector cables are in the equipment suitcase." He bounded up the stairs.

Mai turned back to watch the feed while everyone greeted John.

A strange feeling came over Naru when he heard Father Brown's voice. It intensified as he listened to the former SPR employees, including Lin, discuss the case at hand. It felt like… homesickness. But he _was_ home, Naru thought, as he glanced around the sitting room. This was where he grew up. And yet…

Naru shook his head a bit to clear his mind. This was a case. "Father Brown," Naru interrupted, "Start playing the recordings at 5 minutes before Hara-san was attacked."

"Naru-san!" John exclaimed enthusiastically, "I was wondering if you were there! I'm so happy to be working with everyone again!" There was a series of tapping noises. "Alright, mate, I've got the video keyed up. Should I start it?"

Naru opened his mouth but Mai beat him to it.

"No," she said with authority. "Wait until we get the TV up and running."

Naru raised an eyebrow. Madoka narrowed her eyes at Mai, thinking something over.

Yasuhara returned with a length of cable and quickly ran it from the TV to his computer. Once he had connected them properly, Mai did some rapid typing. All of a sudden, the video feeds popped up on the TV screen.

Mai smiled with satisfaction. "Okay, John-kun!" she called. "Run them, please!"

"Right-o, Mai-chan!" The videos started rolling, and Mai, Naru, Madoka and Lin all moved to see the screen better.

"There." Naru observed, pointing at a slight change in the thermal image on camera #2.

"John-kun, stop the tape," Mai ordered.

The video was paused obediently – and Madoka grinned, having puzzled something out. _Oh, boy, this should be fun_, she thought excitedly.

"Now roll it forward at one-third time," Mai continued in a no-nonsense voice. Lin and Naru exchanged confused glances at Mai's tone. Madoka's grin became wider.

Mai studied the thermal images carefully before pronouncing her verdict. "Naru's right, the spirit is there, and it seems to just hang in the air…"

The teen parapsychologist scoffed, giving her a look that said, 'Of course I'm right, stupid Mai.'

She grinned and rolled her eyes at him before turning back to locate her assistant. "Yasu, can you use your derivative formula-thing to estimate how often the ghost stays in that spot? I mean, we can lure it back to the window using Father Toujo, but it would be easier to exorcise the ghost in its 'home' location."

"Sure thing, Boss," Yasuhara replied cheekily, winking at Mai. She glared.

Naru frowned. Yasuhara had always called Mai 'Boss' on cases, since she was his 'immediate supervisor,' so to speak. However, his calling her 'Boss' now felt different somehow…

Yasuhara had taken back his laptop. He called up a spreadsheet with a lot of numbers on it.

"What is that?" Naru asked interestedly.

"I got bored in calculus one day and got to thinking," Yasuhara began, typing furiously. "I wondered if I could adapt derivatives and figures – the ones used by mathematicians to collect aggregate data – and develop a way to estimate the frequency of a spiritual presence at a haunting. And I did it. I eventually tweaked it to account for hypotheses on attack locations and victim selection. Mai-chan and I also figured out a scale to measure the relative strength of the spirit."

"That is amazing," Martin noted wonderingly. "Does it work?"

Yasuhara grinned. "Of course it works." He had taken the two feeds from the garden cameras and dumped them into the analysis program. He then split each feed into second-long frames and ran the tapes through the formula. A few minutes later, numbers and percentages appeared at the bottom of the screen. Naru nodded appreciatively at Yasuhara's excellent work.

"You didn't put this into the paper," Martin noted.

"Well, we had to save something impressive for when we got here," Yasuhara replied slyly. The computer beeped, indicating that the program was finished. "Okay," the researcher stated, "According to the results, that area is definitely the ghost's home base. It spends 62% of its thermally visible time there, and another…" he typed something quickly… "23% of its time in that immediate vicinity. The only significant movement made during the entire investigation was when the spirit attacked Masako-chan." He looked at Mai.

"Alright," she decided. "We'll do the exorcism there."

"I'd like some more data to analyze," Yasuhara murmured. "John-kun, can we get a copy of the case file?"

"Of course, Yasuhara-kun. I'll scan it now."

"What information are you looking for, Yasu?" Mai asked, grimacing as she watched the video of Masako-chan being dragged along the ground. Her friend screamed and clawed at the dirt, looking terrified.

"I just want to check myself," Yasuhara answered. "Here we go. And… aha!"

Mai turned away from the TV. John had just rescued Masako and was kneeling next to her on the ground. "What is it?"

Yasu grinned. "I checked our conclusion about the 'home base' against the original criminal report of the incident. Our ghost, who is named Hideyo Tsukishiyo, by the way…"

Mai shuddered involuntarily at the name. Apparently, her instincts could still work for cases in Japan, even when she was halfway around the world. "Yep, I've got creepy feelings, it's him."

"Well, apparently blood from the original victim was found on the garden walkway in that exact spot," Yasuhara finished. Everyone was silent for a moment.

"Right," Mai finally said. "Good job, Yasu. John-kun and Father Toujo," Mai began, switching back to Japanese, "I want you guys to ring in a section of the garden around that spot with either holy water or some of Ayako's charms. Did you bring them with you?"

"Yes, Mai-chan," John-kun replied. "We'll start setting it up now."

"Leave a hole at the northeast corner," Naru added. The ghost had to have a way in, just in case it happened to be wandering when the exorcism started.

Mai growled. "I was just going to say that, Naru." He just stared blankly back at her. She stuck her tongue out at him and was rewarded with a smirk.

"In a couple of hours, put the live feed back on, John-kun," Ayako spoke up. "That way we can watch the exorcism."

"Will do, Ayako-san! We'll need time to set this up, so we'll call you back later!" John was always so cheerful.

"Okay, John-kun," Mai assented. "And get me a status report on Masako-chan!"

"Yes, I'll call the hospital after we're set."

Mai thanked him and pressed the "End Call" button on her phone. Then she rounded on Bou-san.

He had the grace to look abashed. "Really, jou-chan, I was going to tell you after breakfast. But you were busy arguing last night, and I knew you'd freak out about Masako-chan, so I wanted to wait until morning."

"I've been up for two hours now," Mai growled, "And I spent a good ten minutes of that time talking to you."

"Yes, but I kinda forgot about it," Bou-san admitted. Mai scowled.

"Oh, come on!" Bou-san whined. "Who's the person who has dreams almost every case and forgets to tell us half the time?"

Mai winced. "Well, that's me… but I've gotten better!"

"Well, it's still about 50 to 1, advantage Takigawa," Ayako muttered.

Mai huffed and conceded. "Fine. But seriously, you have to tell me next time!"

"Oh, don't worry," Yasuhara cut in, "I think you scared John-kun so badly that he'll definitely call you first from now on."

Everybody laughed. And then Madoka struck.

"Hey, Mai," she began, "About this TTMPI you all work for…"

"Yes?" Mai answered warily. Madoka looked way too sneaky right now.

"Who runs it? I mean, you said that John and Masako were working the case by themselves. Aren't there other investigators that could have gone with them? And why would you guys be running the show from here? Surely that's the lead investigator's job?" Madoka finished. She willed her face to look innocent and confused.

And the reaction was everything she was expecting and more. Mai blanched, looking like a deer caught in headlights. Takigawa grinned and looked pointedly at Mai. Ayako tried to disguise her laugh by coughing. Yasuhara gave Mai an evil-looking grin, glasses flashing in the light. All eyes in the room had turned to Mai.

"Uh… well…" Mai stalled.

Ayako sighed impatiently. Mai was ruining her chance to show Naru up! "Mai's the lead investigator, obviously," she replied matter-of-factly, pointing at her daughter-to-be for emphasis.

A moment of silence.

"Hah…" Naru managed a syllable.

Madoka giggled maniacally. Her star pupil was actually speechless with shock.

Mai noticed, of course, and her trepidation was quickly replaced with glee. "That's a new look for you, Naru. I didn't know you could do total shock."

Lin actually snorted.

"Oh, Mai-chan!" Madoka sang, "Are you really? When did you become a lead investigator? Did you take over for someone? You were so authoritative just now; I figured it _had_ to be you!" Her voice got so high at the end that Mai needed a moment to figure out what Madoka was saying.

"Ah, yes, I guess I am a lead investigator, although Bou-san and Ayako take turns as well." Mai took in everyone's confused looks and elaborated. "TTMPI stands for Taniyama Takigawa Matsuzaki Psychic Investigations. We founded it. Well, I thought of it ("And was the driving force behind it!" Bou-san chimed in), Bou-san got us our first clients, and Ayako supplied us with most of our start-up money. And since they both have other jobs, I run most of the investigations."

Naru was still stunned.

Across the room, Martin wondered when his son was going to snap out of it. Luella bit her lip and fought off a vision of her son and Mai running SPR together.

"And Mai-chan here convinced Masako-chan to give us a lot of her used equipment," Ayako added. "And then when Masako-chan started working cases with us, she brought top-of-the-line stuff with her and sometimes 'forgot' to take it back. When Mai-chan called her to come and get her stuff, Masako-chan said that it would be too much trouble to retrieve it."

"And that 'a new model was sure to come out by the time her drivers came for them,'" Yasuhara imitated Masako's voice perfectly.

"I don't know why she had to go to such lengths to give us stuff," Mai said, rolling her eyes. "She could've just said, 'Hey, you guys are my friends. Have some really nice presents!' But nooo, she has to be difficult."

"Anyway, Mai-chan really runs the show," Ayako continued, really wanting to drive that home to the still silent Naru.

"You run the show, too," Mai countered, blushing.

"Hmm… but who signs my paychecks?" Yasuhara asked, faking confusion. He dug into the pocket of his jacket and brought out a folded check. He made a great show of smoothing it on his pants leg and studying the signature. "Hmm, it _says_ Taniyama Mai."

"Ayako and Bou-san can sign the checks, too!" Mai cried, swatting at Yasuhara.

"Yeah, but you do it!"

"Whatever," Mai yelled, just wanting to end the embarrassment. Staring at the video feed to stop the conversation, Mai considered TTMPI's current predicament. Outdoor exorcisms were risky; what if the ghost was too strong for the charms and escaped? What she really needed was the file from two cases ago – that exorcism had been outside and tricky. Maybe there was something helpful in there. The disk that held that file was in her suitcase… which was an excellent excuse for escape!

"I need my file backups," she said aloud. "One of our recent cases needed an outdoor exorcism." Mai rose from the couch. She and Naru locked eyes for a moment before Mai blushed and tore her eyes away. She flew up the stairs.

Naru listened to the excited conversation flowing around him for a moment, but his eyes remained glued to the spot where Mai had vanished. Then he was in motion himself.

"I have notes on several such cases myself," Naru heard himself say. "I shall retrieve them." He ignored the stares of what seemed like every eye in the room and moved forward smoothly, trying not to appear like he was running after Mai.

-0O0-

AN: Okay, I kinda rushed while editing this chapter. I really wanted to post it today So it's not as polished as it could be, but I hope you guys like it!


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: We've been through this, lol, but I do not own Ghost Hunt.**

**Chapter 8 – Lending a Hand  
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**-0O0-**

Naru found Mai in the guest room that she had claimed when she arrived in England. She was rooting through a suitcase full of files and equipment. Naru was taken aback – he had assumed that her second suitcase was filled with clothing and personal effects, like Ayako's. But instead, Mai had brought tons of research material, case histories, and ghost hunting equipment. For the umpteenth time since Mai had gotten to England, Naru felt rather discombobulated.

Mai seemed to sense his presence and looked up. Their eyes met. Finally without the companions they never seemed to shake, Naru was free to stare into Mai's eyes with all the intensity he possessed.

The teen psychic felt like Naru was trying to see through to her soul. Normally, she would look away, embarrassed, but something inside Mai told her to hold his gaze. Instantly, Mai felt the psychic connection between herself and Naru thrum with energy. The very air around her felt electric, as if Naru were using his PK and sending lightning down the invisible cord that tied the two of them together. Mai felt that if she touched her own skin, it would be burning. It seemed like both of them were burning. Mai suddenly had a powerful desire to throw herself across the room and into Naru's arms.

To distract herself from this terrifying idea, Mai swallowed hard and refocused on the physical world. She gazed into Naru's eyes.

They were still as deep as she remembered. His eyes were deep wells that her younger self could not fully comprehend. Mai used to wonder what went on in Naru's head; she remembered constantly guessing about the truths behind his unsmiling gaze.

Of course, now she knew some of the answers to those mysteries. Mai knew his real name, knew his powers, knew his pain. She knew that the chill in Naru's eyes was a coping mechanism (sometimes – other times it was just because he thought someone was stupid). She recognized that he cared about his friends – that he cared about her. At least enough to comfort her over what appeared to be a doomed love for his dead twin brother.

And with this thought, Mai finally looked away from Naru. Two years ago, Naru had listened to her confession… and decided that she loved Gene. He _had_ asked her which of the two she was in love with, but Mai realized later that he had already formed a conclusion in his mind. He had moved right to comforting Mai about her love, telling her that she'd meet Gene in a hundred years. Naru decided that she loved Gene.

And Mai did love Gene. She loved him as a guide, as a true friend, and as a brother. He was wonderful; warm, openly caring, and he had a lovely smile.

But she was _in_ _love_ with _Naru_. Naru was the one she fought with constantly, the one who could get her back up like none other. Whose voice cut through everything and sent delicious thrills down her spine. Whose long, elegant and purposeful fingers hypnotized Mai like nothing else.

Naru was the one who – despite acting as if he couldn't care less – always rescued her from danger. Like during the Gellerini case. Mai would never forget how fast Naru had run across that field to save her as she hung from the edge of that manhole cover. (Mai remembered being surprised, even through her terror, that Naru _could_ run.) She could still feel the sure grip of his hand as he calmly ordered her to put her foot on the ladder.

And then… they'd fallen. Like Mai had told Luella, Naru had blamed her for their fall into the sewer. She'd often wondered whether he could have avoided falling in after her. Gene had told her (much later) that Naru had certainly let himself fall. And by the time Naru and Lin left for England, Mai and Ayako had figured out that Naru's fainting fit actually happened because he used his PK to move the rocks below that would have broken their bodies. Rescuing her had put him in the hospital.

Naru had rescued her during the Ryokuryou High School case, too… Mai still blushed at the memory of Naru's weight on top of her. He had leapt INTO a collapsing room to get to her. He had thrown himself on top of her to protect her from the falling ceiling. _Naru's back took most of it_, she remembered saying. Naru had made another cutting remark, something about it being her fault. But even then, a piece of her mind knew that he was lying to pretend he didn't care.

Then there was the other major thing she'd told Luella – about the time that he had brought her tea in the middle of the night. She had just woken up from her first victim-centered, post-cognitive dream – the first dream in which she had seen death from the eyes of the victim. It had been absolutely terrifying; Mai still saw the hedge maze and felt the grip of the servants in her nastier nightmares. She had been two inches from a total meltdown… and then Naru had come into the room. Wearing light blue pajamas and looking younger and more innocent than Mai had ever seen him.

He held out a teacup for her (because in England, Mai now knew, tea was the answer to practically everything), and asked if she was alright in that adorable, unsure way. Drinking Naru's tea had made Mai feel so much better. Because of that moment, Mai now craved tea whenever she was upset or frustrated.

Then… then there was that smile Naru had given her after they'd closed the case at Yasu's school. That smile had stopped her thoughts in their tracks. It was amazing. Naru's real smile, so fleeting and rare. Mai's heart had attached itself firmly to Naru in that moment.

Naru had assumed that when Mai spoke of his wonderful smile, she had been talking about Gene. _Which was understandable_, Mai supposed. After all, she saw Gene smile practically every time she saw him – whereas she had seen Naru really smile only once. And Mai hadn't understood her feelings well enough herself to explain. It only became clear after she'd spent countless hours sitting at her apartment window, staring toward Dogenzaka and the SPR office.

The smile that Mai's Dream Naru had worn was so wonderful to Mai because she had thought it _was_ Naru. Once she knew it was someone else, that feeling was gone. Gene's smile was comforting and attractive, but it was the idea of _Naru_ smiling that had set Mai's heart aflame.

So Naru had been wrong. Still looking at the guestroom floor, Mai's lips twisted in a smile. Of all things for Naru to be wrong about, it was something as important as love. _Although_, Mai wondered, _would Naru recognize love as important? _Despite her knowledge that he did in fact care about people, he was still a workaholic and ignored the emotions of others with regularity. What did Naru think about love? Mai wasn't about to get into the subject. That had not gone so well last time.

Clearing his throat purposefully, Naru interrupted her deep thoughts. Almost unwillingly, Mai's eyes met his again.

"You decided to start your own ghost hunting company?" His uninterested-sounding monotone echoed off the hardwood floor.

Mai looked back down at her files. "Yes," she replied clearly, not wanting to sound as sheepish as she had downstairs. With new confidence, she met Naru's gaze squarely. "I needed to work, but being a regular office worker sounded boring. I wanted to do something that I enjoyed."

Something in Naru's eyes changed when Mai implied that she enjoyed ghost hunting. She figured that Naru was simply surprised.

And Naru _was_ surprised – but he also felt some strange satisfaction at Mai's words. He found he liked that she enjoyed ghost hunting.

Her former boss' slight smile encouraged Mai to continue. "I was a waitress for a while, but it was dreary… and kinda hazardous. I figured if I were going to get thrown around anyway, I might as well be thrown around by spirits. I actually kind of prefer spirits to the creepy guys that used to harass me at the restaurant – especially that one that followed me out one night and tried to corner me up against the wall."

Shock and anger filled Naru. _Mai had been attacked?_

"Luckily, Bou-san made me take a few self-defense lessons," Mai continued with a wry grin. She pantomimed throwing a punch. "Kneed him in the balls and hit him in the face."

Naru's eyes widened slightly. Imagining Mai fighting some disgusting harasser… how did she manage to find trouble _everywhere?_ The target that was painted on her back didn't only attract spirits, apparently. She was attacked by live entities as well.

"I still quit the next day," she went on. "Wasn't worth it. After that, Ayako and I started talking seriously about starting a business. She was bored, Bou-san was bored, and I needed a job – one that I liked. Yasu _would_ have been bored, if he hadn't been busy helping me study for exams. So Ayako pulled together most of the money and we drew up a plan. We rented an office near SPR. I moved in with Bou-san and Ayako to cut down on my living costs. Bou-san brought his clients from the music business to the office… and word of mouth spread. Eventually, we could afford to pay Yasu to help full-time, and John-kun and Masako-chan actually got checks. They had already been helping for free." Mai smiled. "We built up a decent stock of equipment, thanks in part to our more generous clients – but most of it was donated by Masako-chan."

"Why didn't you just use SPR's office?" Naru wondered aloud. "You had the key."

"Well, yeah, but it's not like the lights were working or anything," Mai replied. "We definitely needed the lights to work. And I didn't really know if we could call you to get the lease transferred to us – if you even held the lease anymore. I mean, you guys left so fast… and I didn't know if I'd ever see you again." Her eyes became sad. "I didn't know if you'd want to talk to m – us, or to… be reminded of Japan."

This last statement confused Naru. Why would it be bad to be reminded of Japan? _Ah, because he had told his employees that he only came to Japan to find Gene's body_. Perhaps Mai thought that thinking about Japan saddened him or something. Naru sighed silently. If anything, being here in England was much worse. Here he was constantly bombarded by memories of Gene. Here, his parents were all over him all the time. And at Britain's SPR, he had to defer to his more senior colleagues.

But in Japan… Naru's memories had not haunted him so badly. He was also at liberty to do things without worrying about how it looked to his parents or his colleagues. He was the president of Japan's SPR, and he called the shots. Not for the first time, Naru desired to return to Japan.

"I would have given you the lease," Naru replied finally, looking out the window to keep Mai from seeing the emotions in his eyes. If Mai had called him about leasing him the office, the least he would have done was give it to her. It was likely that the phone call would have had greater consequences than Mai anticipated – Naru probably would have surrendered to his desire to leave England and re-opened SPR himself.

The great Dr. Oliver Davis felt regret stinging him. _He could have gone back to Japan a long time ago._

But even as these thoughts ran through his mind, Naru remembered his reason for staying. His adopted mother's face swam into view – he saw Luella sobbing at Gene's funeral, soaking Martin's handkerchief as the casket was lowered into the earth. Naru felt again the desperation in her embrace when he met his parents at Heathrow. Permanently returning to Japan would probably destroy his mother.

_But Japan was where everything was happening_, another part of his mind argued plaintively. It was true; his employees had banded together and started their own business. Mai, of all people, had become a lead investigator and partial owner of a psychic investigation company. She had also greatly developed her powers of defense. Naru felt as if he'd been cheated somehow, missing all of that. (The fact that his brain automatically focused on Mai's development was a bit distressing.)

"Hey, guys?" Bou-san called from the bottom of the stairs. "Did you get lost up there or something?"

Mai sucked in a breath, waiting for Yasuhara's inevitable follow-up innuendo… nothing. She smiled gratefully as she realized that Yasu was consciously toning it down for Naru's parents.

Naru obviously shared Mai's sentiments, exchanging a relieved look with her. Mai grinned widely and hefted the folder she needed into her lap. Rocking on her heels, she reached out toward the bed to steady herself as she levered upwards…

And then Naru extended his hand to her.

Mai just stared at it for a moment, shocked. Had Madoka finally beaten some gallantry into Naru?

Above her, Naru heaved an irritated sigh. "We should get down there before Yasuhara gives in to his banal predilection for verbal torment. I figured I would save us time, as I suspect it would take you at least two tries to stand up unassisted."

Mai glared – but couldn't really fault her former boss' logic. Her leg was asleep and she could practically feel herself falling already. So she bit her lip, grasped Naru's hand, and tried to ignore the warm feeling inside as he pulled her up.

She made sure to grumble about narcissists who lacked manners all the way back to the sitting room, though. Couldn't let Naru know she appreciated it; his ego might get even bigger.

-0O0-

Mai glanced at her phone for the eighteenth time in ten minutes. Luella had given her special permission to have it at the table, since John would be calling before he started the exorcism. Bou-san (in a fit of contrition) had set up the TV to receive live feed from the garden cameras.

Mai had also asked John to move two of the three cameras far away from the ringed-in exorcism site. After suffering the destruction of several cameras during rites, Mai had realized that setting up the cameras farther away and then using the zoom feature saved a lot of money on equipment. Zooming in made the picture a bit fuzzy, but Mai couldn't afford to constantly replace cameras (like Naru did). To make sure she didn't miss anything vital, Mai usually left one camera close to the exorcism site.

Everything was set up by now, and it was time for the main event. Mai was just waiting on John. He and Father Toujo were reinforcing the ring with prayers and holy water. Since the holy water had worked during the attack on Masako, John had decided to use Christian emblems of faith to make the ring. Both living participants were Christian, anyway.

"Taniyama-san, you certainly are impatient about the exorcism," Lin noted. Mai usually dreaded the actual exorcisms, especially the ones utilizing _jorei_. She also had no sense of time, lollygagging around in haunted houses and late for everything. But now John was late and Mai was checking her phone multiple times a minute.

"Well, yeah!" Mai's patience was hanging by a thread and Lin was pulling on it. "I'm worried about John-kun and Father Toujo. They're on a case by themselves and Masako-chan has already been attacked!"

"John-kun is very capable, Mai-chan," Yasuhara said soothingly. "And a ghost almost always attacks someone. You're just freaked out because it's not you for once."

Bou-san and Madoka chuckled.

Mai glared and barely refrained from throwing her fork at Yasuhara. "Damn right," she replied. "Besides, I can't really do anything from here. What if something goes wrong? My yelling the nine words at the screen isn't going to help." She sighed. "I know that John-kun is very capable. We've all seen him in action enough times. It's just annoying being sidelined like this. I wasn't expecting to be so nervous about exorcisms that I'm not even there for."

"Well, Mai, I think it's normal," Ayako chimed in. "Despite the many times you've said that you're not the boss, you really are our primary lead investigator. It makes sense that you feel nervous and upset about taking a sabbatical from the company you helped build. Plus, your primary researcher and two of your spiritualists are away from the office with you."

Mai pursed her lips. Ayako was right.

"I think it shows what a responsible jou-chan you're growing up into!" Bou-san cooed dramatically, deliberately trying to annoy her. He preferred angry Mai to scared Mai.

His ploy worked; his adopted daughter immediately lobbed a biscuit at him. Bou-san ducked and the roll fell to the floor. Luella and Ayako both made to reprimand Mai, but Bou-san got there first, clucking his tongue noisily.

"Now, Mai… grown-ups don't let their rampant nervy angst turn them violent."

Mai growled and threw another biscuit. Bou-san ducked again, but Mai was ready this time and threw out a hand. Calling up her PK-MT, she altered the roll's trajectory in midair. The bread smacked her adopted father right in the cheek.

"Hit!" Yasuhara crowed, acting as if he and Mai were in the lab running their weekly tests. "So where were you actually aiming?"

"His forehead," Mai admitted.

"A little off then, but still a direct hit on a moving target." Yasuhara grinned. "I count that a success."

"I count that as wasting food," Ayako cut in. She turned to address Luella. "Unfortunately, this is regular dinnertime behavior for my ill-mannered idiots here. However," she spun back to Mai. "I thought we decided to nix the food-and-utensil-tossing competitions while _in someone else's home_."

Mai winced. "Yes, I'm sorry, Luella."

"Don't be sorry!" Martin interrupted enthusiastically. "That was wonderful! Excellent control of both the amount of power used and manipulation of that power. Very good show, Taniyama!"

Mai blinked, shocked. And then blushed furiously at the compliment.

Then she registered the wide-open eyes of Lin, Madoka and Naru. Belatedly, Mai remembered that this was the first time she had used her PK in front of anyone from Britain's SPR.

"Ah, yeah, so I can do that now!" Mai said brightly, smiling to ease the tension. "I don't have nearly the amount of power that Naru does, but I am working very hard to control it properly!"

"Thank goodness," Ayako drawled. "If I had to buy one more replacement drinking glass…"

"Hey, I didn't break THAT many!" Mai shot back. "And after I broke the first few, we moved them far away into the closet! You're the one that kept taking them back out."

"I do not drink out of throwaway plastic cups," Ayako groused.

"You should if you want to keep your crystal safe from our poltergeisting princess," Yasuhara drawled in a teasing tone.

"Shut it, Yasu!" Mai snapped. "You're the idiot who insisted on drinking juice and water out of wineglasses for all of finals week."

"Why would you drink juice out of wineglasses?" Luella wondered.

"Yasu told me it was therapeutic. Some rot about 'think high-class and you'll get high grades.'" Mai rolled her eyes.

Yasuhara grinned mischievously. "Well, it was really because I knew that Mai was really stressing out and there was a high probability that she would cause a poltergeist. I wanted to see how many glasses she could break in one shot."

"WHAT?" Ayako roared. "You owe me money, Yasuhara!"

"I would like to point out that all of those glasses were actually mine," Bou-san cut in. He threw a grin at his fuming fiancée. "Assuming ownership early, Ayako?"

"Well, I live there!" Ayako was livid. "And one of my favorite lamps got broken during that particular paranormal outburst!"

"I'm sorry!" Mai wailed.

"I know, and it's alright," Ayako soothed. "I was yelling at Yasu. Especially since it sounds like he might have forced that particular poltergeisting incident." She leveled a frosty glare at Yasuhara.

Yasuhara summoned his most angelic expression. "Why, Ayako! I merely took advantage of the already stressful situation at hand!"

"Yasu," Mai growled, "You told me that night that if I didn't make into the top 3, I would never get into Todai."

"Well, you wouldn't have!"

"You told me that if I didn't do _wonderfully_ on the exam, I'd wind up a bar maid in Akihabara…"

Madoka snorted with laughter.

"…and that creepy guys like our Third Client would be following me home every night…."

"Third client?" Lin asked.

"A story for another time," Bou-san whispered.

"…AND that I'd never dig myself out of the educational hole I'd wind up in."

Naru's lips twitched.

"In other words, you were totally trying to provoke me, Yasu! You figured, 'ooh, think about what an awesome poltergeist Mai will cause if I just push a little further.'"

"And it WAS awesome."

"Argh!" Mai could feel her usually tamped-down PK abilities rising. She had just used them, so they were much closer to their active state. She needed to calm down…

Yasu wasn't done, though. "I taped it, Professor Davis, if you'd like to watch it."

Mai's fists clenched and her forearms prickled with heat.

"You'll have to ignore Mai-chan's appearance in the video. She had been studying for 27 hours straight, so she kinda looks like a drugged-out mental patient."

_Crack!_ Mai's glass shattered. Luella and Ayako recoiled as shards of crystal fell onto the table. Madoka, Lin and Naru stared in surprise and fascination. Martin just grinned.

"_Shimatta!_" Mai cursed in Japanese. Her powers weren't quite done, and she bit her lip as a hot wind blew through the room. The chandelier rattled and the table linens fluttered, but no further damage was done. The heat in her arms faded, and Mai breathed a sigh of relief.

Then she remembered that she'd just broken a piece of Luella's expensive crystal. "I'm so sorry!" Mai cried in English. "I usually have better control nowadays, but I had just used them – my powers – and they were standing at the ready. Plus, I'm so edgy about the exorcism…"

"It's alright," Luella smiled understandingly. "We're really quite used to it." She gestured toward her silent son.

Mai heard Lin's deep voice in her memory, informing her that Naru had caused lots of powerful poltergeists when he was a child. Gene had told her about it, too, during one case when she was angsting (in her dreams) over producing her third poltergeist in one week. According to both accounts, Naru's poltergeisting had been spectacular – whole rooms of furniture floating about. Gene's had been comparatively calm.

Having avoided her former boss' gaze since their conversation earlier in the day, Mai chanced a glance at Naru. He was staring thoughtfully into the distance. She bit her lip nervously. Naru was normally pretty quiet, but he had been extra-silent since she had used PK. _Had he guessed the truth?_

As if he felt her eyes on him, Naru turned to Mai. "That was… impressive." He speared her with his laser-like Investigative Stare. "I had forgotten about the PK-MT. My father told us that one of his new students had it. When did you begin to exhibit the ability? I saw no sign of it during the days of SPR in Japan."

In her mind, Mai _eeked_ in terror. This was exactly why she had been avoiding mentioning her PK in front of Naru. The only thing he loved more than finding mysteries was solving mysteries. And he usually started his puzzle-solving immediately and relentlessly.

She hurried to say_ something_, mind flying. "Ah, well, we were on a case, and –" Suddenly, her mobile sang the opening bars of the "Hallelujah Chorus." _Saved!_ Mai thought, scrambling for the phone.

"John-kun?" she asked, voice high with relief.

"Hello, Mai-chan!" he replied happily. "We're all ready to begin over here. If you'll just settle in to watch, we'll start the exorcism."

"Of course, John-kun." Mai gestured to her companions as she stepped around the table. "We'll head into the sitting room now."

-0O0-

In the end, Mai's anxiousness over the exorcism was for nothing (thankfully). The whole affair had gone relatively smoothly and the exorcism was a success. Safely in 'her' chair, Mai stared into space and replayed visions of the previous hour in her head.

There was one tetchy moment when Father Toujo had fallen while trapping the ghost inside the exorcism site. Mai had gasped, worried that the ghost had escaped through the 'demon gate' at the northeast corner and attacked Father Toujo. It turned out that he had tripped over a couple of rocks.

Mai had stood up front and next to Naru for the entire broadcast ("That is where Bosses should stand!" Yasu noted brightly), feeling edgy, useless, and biting her nails. At one point, her still-jumpy powers had caused the flower vase next to her to start wobbling. Mai reached out to steady it, but met with Naru's hand instead. She felt his hand move underneath her fingers, steadying the vase. Mai stopped breathing, all of the nerve endings in her fingers on high alert. A moment later, she realized that she was practically _holding his hand_ and jerked hers away as though it were on fire.

"Calm down, Mai, it's going fine," Naru murmured so that no one else could hear.

She took comfort from his words and from his solid presence at her side. Slowly, Mai had turned back to the monitor and watched with a lighter heart. (And a distinct feeling that Yasu and Ayako were snickering behind her.)

The young psychic shook her head, pulling her thoughts back to the present. Martin wanted her to take a trip to the British SPR building with him tomorrow. Mai had agreed, of course, and then somehow, everyone was going. _It was probably going to be a long day_, her exhausted mind noted. There was no way she was going to SPR without somebody requesting some testing…

Mai yawned as she placed her empty tea cup on the coffee table. "I think it's bedtime for me."

Her new professor nodded vigorously. "Indeed, you should get a good sleep. Maybe we'll get a bit of testing in tomorrow, after you all settle into the apartment."

_Aha, _Mai thought with a smirk, _I knew it!_

"Speaking of testing," Yasuhara spoke up, "Today is Monday, Mai-chan."

Good mood effectively killed. "Already?" Mai groaned.

Madoka raised an eyebrow. "What's significant about Monday?"

"Monday means that Mai-chan is going vegetarian for the next two days," Ayako replied, facing Luella-the-menu-planner. "No meat for Mai on Tuesdays and Wednesdays."

"Why not?" Luella asked. _Meat kept you stronger…_ although now she thought about it, Lin almost never ate meat for some mystical reason.

"Because we do weekly testing of Mai-chan's abilities on Wednesdays," Yasuhara said seriously, glaring at the obviously reluctant Mai. "And Mai-chan's psychic abilities always test better if she doesn't eat meat. Two days of going without clears her digestive tract of animal interference."

"Which totally sucks," Mai rejoined. "It's almost worse than going hungry."

"It's doable, Taniyama-san," Lin noted. "I always refrain from eating meat while on cases. It does greatly affect the connection between our powers and the spirit world."

"That's where I got the idea from," Mai confessed. "I remembered that neither you nor Naru ate meat on cases. We looked it up, and there was a whole lot of research on the topic. So we tried it one week and it really made a difference. And now I go meatless two days a week." Mai did not mention that Gene had also recommended avoiding meat for testing and cases.

Yasu was wondering where they would conduct the tests. _Maybe the lawn outside?_ _No, too much wind interference_… He suddenly thought of a solution. "Hey Professor Davis, can I ask you for a favor?"

"What is it, Yasuhara?"

"Could Mai-chan and I possibly hijack a lab to work in for a few hours on Wednesdays? We used one of the school labs at Todai – you see, we need an open space for testing."

Mai chimed in, turning pleading chocolate eyes on her professor. "We have our own equipment; we just need somewhere to test."

"Of course!" Martin replied jovially, "You can use my laboratory at Cambridge once term starts, but for now, why don't you use one of the labs at SPR? And you said you've got equipment, but SPR has a great deal of it as well. You can test with whatever you want, and if you find something particularly useful, we can take it with us to the university."

Mai and Yasuhara exchanged excited glances. Just what they'd secretly hoped for!

Luella sighed resignedly. "I suppose it all worked out, Martin, and you got what you'd hoped for: willing test subjects."

Yasuhara laughed. "You should watch, Professor!" he suggested enthusiastically. "We'll run our usual tests, and if there's anything you'd like to suggest, we'd love to oblige."

Mai nodded eagerly, grinning at her professor's thrilled expression.

Madoka clucked her tongue. "Well, Noll, Lin and I will be doing research for a case this Wednesday," she said unhappily. Then she brightened. "But I am totally tagging along next time."

Mai nodded again, this time in resignation. She hated when lots of people watched… but she knew of no force on earth that could thwart Madoka.

-0O0-

AN: Emotion running rampant in this chapter, with Mai too afraid to tell Naru any of it out loud…


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. We'd be hearing about the psychic babies.**

**Chapter 9 – Testing Day**

**-0O0-**

It was Wednesday morning. Mai woke up early, like she always did after going meatless. It was like her stomach was trying to punish her for denying it the desired food. She had to skip a delicious-looking beef stew last night at the Davis mansion – and everyone made fun of her for staring longingly at the serving bowl.

At least she'd had vegetarian company. Naru and Lin had also stuck to tofu and steamed rice last night. They were starting a case today… which meant that the Professor was going to be the only observer for testing today. Mai breathed a secret sigh of relief. She was glad that she'd be able to showcase her abilities for the head of SPR without Naru around. His death-ray stare would probably cause her abilities to short out or something.

After a pleasant breakfast of tea and toast, Mai went for a walk. Bou-san and Ayako were already out, and Yasuhara hadn't yet emerged from his blanket-cocoon, so she went alone. Mai strolled through the quaint London neighborhood, smiling at the sight of people rushing around her and noticing streetlamps from which hung lovely flowers. The streets were already busy and most people struggled to make their way through the crowds – but it was nothing to Mai. She was used to Shibuya crossing – nothing could be more confusing and crowded than that intersection of doom.

Though the morning commotion didn't bother her, Mai craved a more peaceful environment. She hung a left into a black-gated park she'd noticed the other day. The green of the hilly grass soothed her mind immediately, and Mai could hear the plashing of a fountain somewhere nearby. Mai followed the sound of the water until she saw what appeared to be a long, low wall. Upon closer inspection, Mai saw that inside of the wall had been partially hollowed out and water flowed along the channel. It was a very interesting fountain. Very Zen, even.

Mai shrugged off her knapsack and sank onto the grass, her back against the fountain wall. She had always liked the sound of running water; it relaxed her. She was therefore a big fan of fountains. She especially liked fountains that shot jets of water into the air. Watching the water shoot around made Mai's childish side squeal with joy.

Yep, this was definitely where she was spending the morning. Mai opened her knapsack and pulled out some supplies – including the cherry blossom-print blanket she'd had since she was ten. Mai had specially packed it to remind her of home. She had brought _The Science Behind the Supernatural_, figuring she'd sit down somewhere nice and finish it. She made herself comfortable on the blanket and opened up Yasu's book. The young psychic found her page and sipped some tea from the portable container she carried everywhere. Mai became so engrossed in a chapter on residual spirits that she barely noticed the passing of time.

-0O0-

Her phone rang when she was about ten pages from the end of the text, so she ignored it. Five pages from the end, she ignored the message alarm. A few minutes later, Mai closed the finished book with a satisfied 'snap' and reached for the offending cell phone. Bou-san had called and left a message.

She hit "3" on the speed-dial keypad and waited for Bou-san to pick up.

"Jou-chan?" he asked immediately. "Where are you?"

"Oh, I'm at a park. I wanted a little alone time today."

"Well, that's fine, but could you maybe leave a note next time? We've only been in this country for a week. You could get lost and kidnapped or something."

Mai rolled her eyes. "It's the middle of the day, Bou-san. Don't kidnappers wait until nightfall to abscond with young maidens? I highly doubt someone's going to snatch me from this public fountain in a public park." Bou-san made an annoyed noise and Mai grinned to herself. 'Abscond with young maidens,' she'd heard that somewhere. Pity Naru hadn't heard her use of excellent vocabulary words. Suddenly, Mai could hear Ayako and – was that Luella? – in the background.

"She's fine. She just found a fountain somewhere." Mai heard Bou-san say to the other voices.

"I'm a few blocks away from the apartment," Mai clarified. "I'll start walking back now, I'm hungry anyway. Do you want me to pick something up for you?"

"No, we're at the Davis house. Come here."

"Alright, I'll see you soon. I'll try really hard not to get kidnapped."

"Funny, jou-chan. But remember that you have been kidnapped three times in the last year."

"What?" she heard Naru ask sharply in the background.

Mai rolled her eyes. "I was kidnapped by _ghosts_, Bou-san, not people."

"There could be ghosts bent on kidnapping in that park. England's a very haunted place, you know."

"Yes, well last time I checked, ghosts are pretty nocturnal, too."

"Smart-mouthed jou-chan. See you soon."

"_Hai, hai_."

Mai brushed herself off and headed out. It was a long walk to the Davis mansion – she missed Bou-san having a car. She passed a sign on her way out of the black entrance gates. Kensington Park, she read. _See, Bou-san?_ She thought. _It's so close to the apartment that it has the same name!_

A little while later, as Mai walked along the street edging the park, she heard a beep from behind her and turned to see Lin's car slowing to a stop. Mai blinked in surprise, but quickly ran over to the car, as Lin was holding up traffic. She could see that someone was in the passenger seat, so she opened the back door and climbed in. Tossing her knapsack onto the floor in front of her, Mai buckled up just as Lin veered back into the thick of it, honks sounding behind them.

Mai looked up front to thank him for the ride – and was extremely surprised to see Naru in the passenger seat. She had been expecting Madoka or Bou-san.

"I needed something at the office," Naru replied to her raised eyebrow. "We were going out anyway… and Takigawa was rambling about you walking around London with kidnappers."

Mai sighed. "He needs to chill. I've never been kidnapped by_ living_ people."

"You probably would have wound up lost, anyway." Mai could practically_ hear_ Naru smirking.

"I would not have, you jerk! And here I was going to say 'thank you.'" Mai huffed and looked out the window. She noticed that they were driving away from the Davis residence. "Where are we going?"

"To the _office_," Naru drawled in his 'you're-an-idiot' voice.

"You came to get me first?" Mai was surprised.

"Well, you told Bou-san that you were near the apartment, so I deduced that you were most likely in Kensington Park by the Princess Diana fountain. It made more sense to retrieve you first, as you'd still be close to the entrance and easier to find. And here you are."

"You're like a narcissistic bloodhound."

"You're welcome."

Mai huffed again. "What do you need at the office, anyway? Didn't you pick up all the equipment yesterday?"

Lin smiled to himself. Yes, they had.

Naru didn't miss a beat. "We need another condenser microphone."

Lin couldn't resist. "Of course we do, because twelve of them aren't quite enough."

His boss glared. "It's a large house."

Mai didn't understand the tension between the two ghost hunters. Naru had always been obsessive about equipment, so why was Lin taking exception this time?

Lin sighed – they _didn't_ need another microphone. Why couldn't Oliver just admit that he was worried about Mai, especially after Bou-san's kidnapping diatribe? Certainly, Noll was oblivious to his deeper feelings for Taniyama-san – but surely he could at least own that he cared about her safety? He was an adult now, after all.

But as Naru and Mai promptly started a fight over the proper spacing of microphones at a haunting, Lin was forced to rethink this stance. Adults. Ha.

-0O0-

Mai grinned at Dr. Davis' delighted face. She could clearly see him through the glass that separated them from the observation room. The room was right next to the large SPR laboratory in which she and Yasuhara were currently running tests.

Mai couldn't help feeling like she had something to prove. Yes, she was a dedicated student, but her real usefulness to Professor Davis lay in her paranormal abilities. He-Who-Shall-Remain-Nameless, a.k.a. Mai's ex-boyfriend, had often said that the sheer variety of Mai's talents made her invaluable to the paranormal investigation industry. And now she was giving a live demonstration for one of the leaders of the parapsychological community. Adrenaline rushed through her veins, making Mai grin. PK-MT worked better under pressure, after all.

"Test 12-53: Redirecting attacks with PK-MT," Yasuhara stated, preparing the three ball launchers he and Bou-san had adapted for testing. The launchers were hooked up to a program in Yasuhara's laptop. The program built a randomized sequence in which different-sized softballs were shot at Mai.

They ran two major tests using the launchers. In test one, Mai was supposed to redirect the softballs to avoid being hit by them. Some ghosts and poltergeists threw objects at investigators – Mai could (sometimes) block such attacks.

She was almost 100% successful with the smallest softballs and at about 70% with the medium size. Redirecting the largest softballs still gave her problems – she could almost always affect their trajectory, but not always enough. She wound up getting hit about 40% of the time, and the ball's forward motion was only stopped completely about 10% of the time. Halting the forward motion was important, because TTMPI did everything in groups. Deflecting a spirit's attack on herself only to redirect it into one of her friends was definitely not ideal. She had accidentally caused a vase to hit Ayako once – it had struck her in the shoulder and the resulting scar had been nasty.

The other major test involved specialized redirection. This exercise was still in its early phases. A couple of months ago, Yasuhara had finally decreed that Mai's deflection percentages for the first test were good enough that they could add a second skill – Mai could start trying to aim the redirected balls. The first test merely required Mai to deflect the balls away from herself. The newer second test involved actually aiming them somewhere. Mai doubted she'd ever have enough PK power or control to turn an object around entirely and shoot it back at the ghost… but she could (sometimes) consciously redirect the balls to harmlessly strike the ground. It had been slow going, but she was gradually improving her success rate.

The launchers were the second phase of testing, however. To warm up, Mai and Yasu always started with an easier PK-MT exercise – Mai threw the softballs herself and aimed them at one of three targets using her PK. They started with this test because it was something she regularly did, anyway – every time she aimed a spoon at Yasu or Bou-san and thought it would miss. _Her more immature tendencies had actually given her a lot of practice with her PK over the last year_, she thought with a grin. Then Mai froze. 'Her' PK, she had called it.

A softball whizzed past, grazing her cheek. Yikes.

"Mai-chan? You should really pay attention. I don't how many more balls to the head your brain can take," Yasuhara joked.

At least they both wore face shields now. They had the infamous Todai counseling sessions to thank for that…

Another ball ruffled her hair, and Mai decided it was time to concentrate.

-0O0-

After another few minutes, Mai was in the zone. She had been inordinately successful today – because one of her other powers was providing assistance. Occasionally, when Mai was really in the groove, her instincts would predict which launcher was going to fire next – giving Mai a couple of extra seconds to prepare. This improved her success rate exponentially, and made her training partner very happy. Yasu was cheering excitedly at the moment.

Finally, the computer beeped and Yasuhara announced the end of testing for the day. Mai wiped a trail of sweat from her face and sighed with relief – she was _very_ tired. Her arms were burning and the scars beneath her gloves felt like live wires in her skin. Her head kinda hurt, too. Mai needed some food and Gatorade to recover energy… even as she thought this, a wave of dizziness swept through her and she stumbled a bit.

Professor Davis had apparently noticed her fatigue, as a strong male arm slid around Mai's waist to steady her.

"Thank you, Dr. Davis," Mai groaned gratefully. She leaned into the arm, which supported her ably as she sagged.

"So much more polite than normal. You should call me that more often," a very familiar voice intoned.

Mai's head shot up – Naru's smirking face was close to hers, and it was his arm around her waist. And here she was, leaning into his body like an idiot! Mai yelped and tried to scurry away, but Naru trapped her against him and moved toward the door.

"You should let me help you to a chair. After all, if you faint, I'll be forced to carry you," Naru said flippantly, knowing that she'd probably scream with embarrassment if he carted her around SPR in his arms. He smirked more widely. Mai's reaction would be entertaining enough that he almost picked her up anyway. However… the inevitable thrashing motions she'd make (while trying to escape) might take both of them down. Naru had no desire to for his head to make contact with the floor today.

Mai's face was glowing brilliantly by the time Naru maneuvered her into a seat in the lab's observation area. A few feet away, Dr. Davis, Sr. was chatting with Lin and Madoka about the testing, which they had apparently returned in time to catch the end of. Mai felt embarrassed and excited at the same time – she was self-conscious about testing in front of Naru, but Mai was very glad that he had seen her most impressive results yet!

Lin excused himself to help Yasuhara move the ball launchers into a storage closet. Martin had told Mai and Yasu that they could keep their equipment at SPR – which was great, since lugging all that heavy stuff to the laboratory sucked.

Madoka appeared at her side. "You look exhausted," she noted. "We should get you something to eat. We haven't eaten, either – want to get food downstairs?"

"Sure," Mai answered hazily, having no idea what 'downstairs' meant. Was there a cafeteria or something? A wave of sleepiness overcame her, and Mai rested her swimming head on the table in front of her. Her fingers encountered Martin's notebook – she noticed that he'd taken a lot of notes on the experiments.

A bottle of Gatorade was unceremoniously plonked down in front of her face. "Drink this, then we'll go downstairs and eat," Naru commanded.

Mai huffed at his tone, but obediently twisted the bottle open and drained its contents. Damn, she was thirsty.

Madoka grinned at the care that her apathetic student provided to his one-time assistant. Noll had been scrutinizing Mai intensely throughout the end of the testing, and jetted into the lab the moment that Mai first wobbled with fatigue. Then he actually helped her into a chair and retrieved the proper refreshments for her. Mai had obviously been annoyed at his commanding attitude, but Madoka knew better – Noll was worried about Mai. _Well, he did know more about the potential issues with PK than almost anyone in the world_, Madoka thought sadly.

The exhausted psychic was feeling noticeably better by the time by the time Yasuhara and Lin had finished with the testing equipment. Mai was thankfully able to walk unaccompanied to the elevators… although her waist still tingled where Naru's arm had held her. The whole group squished in together to save time. Mai expected them to stop at the second-floor lobby, but the elevator kept dropping.

A ping sounded, and the carload full of SPR employees (plus Mai and Yasuhara) filed out into the waiting area for a cozy-looking diner. Mai smiled happily – what a lovely place to eat and – knowing her companions – discuss the day's paranormal happenings.

The hostess grinned brightly upon seeing them. "Professor Davis! Haven't seen you all week!"

"Yes, Stacey, we've been busy with our new arrivals," Martin replied, smiling back and gesturing towards the Japanese students.

"Ah, they're finally here!" Stacey exclaimed, clapping her hands. "Hello, dears, I'm Stacey, hostess here at Glen's. Your companions are in here all the time."

Mai bowed quickly and beamed back. "_Hajime_ – I mean, lovely to meet you. I'm Mai Taniyama and he's Osamu Yasuhara." She always seemed to default to bowing when she met new people! After nineteen years, the habit was hard to break.

Stacey's eyed widened at Mai's aborted Japanese greeting. "Ah, that's right. You've come from Japan. You speak very good English."

"It was a long, slow road," Yasuhara replied amusedly. "Six months we worked on the L's," He noted, gesturing at Mai.

"Shut it, Yasu!" Mai barked, coloring. "And L's are hard!"

There was a smattering of laughter as Stacey showed the group to a big table. Mai stared a moment; in most Japanese restaurants, one usually sat on the floor. She'd sat on these long seats before in Western-style places, but knowing it was the norm was strange.

"You look like a tourist, Mai-chan," Yasuhara commented gleefully as he sat down. Mai put out her tongue and slid into the booth. Madoka followed her. Lin, Naru and the Professor sat on the other side of the long table, and Stacey handed everyone a menu.

Mai grinned at the sight of some familiar items. Ayako and Bou-san had decided that they would all sample several English dishes, so that eating wouldn't be such a culture shock. _Ayako's first try at cooking sausages had been entertaining_, Mai remembered, as her eyes found the standard 'bangers and mash.'

"Are you visualizing the time Bou-san tried to make steak-and-kidney pie?" Yasu asked from beside her.

"No, I was thinking about Ayako and the sausages," Mai replied. "Remember that one that jumped out of the pan?"

"I remember the yelling that followed."

Lin and Naru were giving them quizzical glances. Mai grinned.

"Ayako and Bou-san have tried to cook western a lot lately," she explained. "It hasn't gone so well."

"'What do you mean they put BLOOD into the pudding?' And how can it be a sausage if it's _pudding?_'" Yasuhara cried in his best Ayako-voice.

"Well, that is _really_ gross," Mai observed. She found blood pudding on the menu. "We are so not getting that."

"And then Bou-san made it worse by saying that we could save some spilled blood from an investigation for cooking," Yasuhara continued. "Ayako whacked him with a wooden spoon and then retired to the living room, looking kinda green."

Everyone laughed. Even Naru smirked quickly (his version of laughing).

The waiter (who also knew the SPR employees) took their orders and vanished into the kitchen. While they were waiting for their food, the conversation rolled around to Mai's testing/training exercises. Lin had some good ideas about improving Mai's focus and mental state, so it was decided that he would train with Mai once a week.

Their food came just after Martin left to use the restroom. As their waiter handed Mai her plate of baked chicken (playing it safe), an enormous bruise on her upper arm became visible.

"Wow, honey, you should get that checked out," the waiter noted, "That bruise looks nasty."

"Thanks," Mai replied. She had long since stopped trying to explain her welts. After the Todai counseling ridiculousness…

Her thoughts were obviously shared by a grinning Yasu. Mai tried to kill him with her eyes as he started explaining to the group.

"Mai-chan and I don't bother defending our war wounds anymore," he started, feigning obliviousness to Mai's basilisk glare. "We started the testing about a year ago, when Mai-chan was starting her first semester at Todai and I was in my third. She had recently exhibited PK-MT for the first time and suggested that we run tests and training sessions to make her powers 'battle-ready.'"

"Taniyama-san recommended testing?" Lin asked incredulously. Naru had the same thought.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Mai muttered darkly. It had actually been Gene's idea, but Mai was not about to say that.

"She did indeed," Yasuhara replied, eager to get on with the story. "Anyway, about six weeks into the testing, Mai-chan was hauled into Todai's counseling office. We didn't wear face shields back then, and apparently, the constant facial injuries she sported had alarmed her professors. Poor Mai-chan spent a good three hours reiterating that _no_, she wasn't being abused by her boyfriend."

Raucous laughter erupted. Even Lin – Mai had a brief vision of Lin's reaction to her request that he not hate her for being Japanese. The laughter continued and Mai gritted her teeth.

"I didn't even _have_ a boyfriend!" she burst out. "And I tried to them it was just from experiments!"

"But alas, they did not believe her," Yasuhara continued, hamming it up. "So, as the person who obviously spent the most time with our dear Miss Taniyama,_ I_ was assumed to be her abusive boyfriend. Ergo, I was summoned the following day and questioned along with her. Mai-chan got so perturbed that she wound up pulling up my sleeves to reveal my own wealth of bruises."

"I wasn't a very good shot back then," Mai admitted ruefully.

Yasuhara pushed up his glasses. "In the end, they let us go. But to this day, we aren't sure if the counselors ever really believed that the marks were the result of collateral damage from paranormal experiments. Mai-chan kept telling them that, but…"

"Yasu, we don't have to repeat this part of the story," Mai growled warningly.

"But it's the best part! Anyway, I'm pretty sure they just decided that Mai-chan and I were into violent sex."

Dead silence for a moment. Then Madoka and Lin cracked, both laughing unabashedly. Naru just sat there, eyes wide. Mai was very grateful that the Professor wasn't here for this.

"Did you just guess that was what they were thinking?" Madoka managed between wheezes.

"Oh, no, they sat us down and we had a 'dialogue' about safety and alternative lifestyles!" Yasuhara crowed. Apparently he _still_ thought it was hilarious. Mai remembered his idiotic comments to their extremely serious counselors.

Mai still flushed as she remembered the suggestion that she and Yasuhara beat each other up for… fun. "I will never forget that horrifying conversation as long as I live," she groaned, closing her eyes. More laughter. "But I don't want to think about it _ever again_. And you are going to shut it, Yasuhara!"

Yasuhara couldn't have continued, anyway. He was laughing too hard.

"What did I miss?" Martin asked as he sat back down.

"Nothing whatsoever," Mai bit out, stamping on Yasuhara's foot under the table.

"Nothing of consequence," Naru clarified in his professional voice. "Father, did you want information about today's case?"

Martin nodded eagerly. Lin and Madoka were forced to get a hold on themselves and participate in the discussion.

Mai knew that Naru had brought up the case on purpose. He'd probably done it because he didn't want to have to listen to such an absurd conversation twice, but still… When Martin questioned Madoka about the spirit's origin, Mai saw her chance. "Thanks, Naru," Mai whispered gratefully.

Naru was looking at his adopted father, but Mai saw him nod slightly. She smiled and went back to her food.

-0O0-

That night, the burning in her arms forced Mai to abandon her gloves. She made sure to lock the door to her bedroom before sliding them off and spreading cooling cream down each forearm. If she did this a couple more times before falling asleep, she'd be okay. Maybe she'd even get away with not dreaming about Gene's death… sometimes overusing PK brought the dream on. However, Mai didn't feel any of the warning signs – brief snatches of pain in her back, hearing the car horn, feeling cold all over from invisible lake water. So maybe she was safe. She should probably focus on something else, though, just in case. She needed to be alone tonight so that she could lubricate and air out her scars. She'd have to cover them up again if Ayako slept with her.

Whenever Mai felt the warning signs of her usual death-vision, Ayako slept in the same room. That way, Mai's thrashing and moaning would wake her almost-adopted mother, enabling Ayako to wake Mai before the screaming and dream-drowning started. It made for a much less harrowing night for Mai and a much quieter night for the neighbors. They had instituted this preventative measure after Mai had been kicked out of her second apartment; she caused a lot of noise complaints.

Mai looked down at her forearms, the scarring of which had coincided with the beginning of the dreams. Underneath the sheen of fresh lotion, her scars looked a bit darker than usual. She studied the angry-looking red scars dispassionately, used to their appearance by now. Mai scooted under the covers and pulled out the list of books and papers that the professor had helpfully provided for his new students. She wanted to be as prepared as possible by the first day – Mai had worked very hard to be thoroughly fluent in English, but some of the longer academic terms still flummoxed her. Yasuhara told her that some of them weren't even recognized as words outside academia. Then again, parapsychology was still denounced by many scientists, so that was hardly a surprise.

Glancing at the first title on the list, Mai scanned the stack of texts she'd borrowed from the Davis' library. She pulled the desired title from the stack and proceeded to thoroughly distract herself from the scars and from Gene. Pausing at the end of each chapter to rub lotion down her tingling arms, Mai whiled away two hours learning about the beginnings of modern parapsychology. At ten o'clock, she chirped a good-night to her parent-figures and turned out the light (Yasuhara was out – he'd invited Mai to go with him, but she'd been too tired).

Mai instructed her brain to think happy thoughts. Unbidden, an image of Naru's face – when he'd caught her that afternoon – swam into her mind's eye. Mai smiled and felt her face warm. She'd been close enough to see individual eyelashes. Apparently, her brain's interpretation of happy thoughts was 'Naru.' Shocker. _That was how they'd done it, after all_, she thought sleepily.

Mai twisted slightly in bed and registered faint burning in her arms as she fell asleep. Her love for Naru. That's how she and Gene had managed it.

-0O0-

"_For Noll."_ Mai heard Gene's voice whisper in her dreams.

She remembered what she'd said before she heard it. _"For Naru,"_ her own voice came. Softly, it continued. _"And all of us."_

Then burning, terrible burning, her own voice screaming, the wails reverberating in unconscious ears.

"_Mai-chan, remember what we're doing this for,"_ Gene's voice crawled through her mind. _Mai thought of Naru, and her love burned through the haze of pain…_

_Instead of feeling like wires were poking her, Mai felt burning lines slide over her skin. Fire crawled up Mai's arms, and she shook crazily at the pain, but she locked her knees and only gripped Gene's hands tighter._

Mai shot up in bed, gasping, her scars blazing again. No vision of Gene's death, but her arms' burning had followed her into dreamland after all. Stupid flare-ups.

But as Mai slathered more lotion on her arms, a sense of pride rose within her. _Didn't matter how much it hurt_, Mai thought fiercely. She was glad they'd managed it. No matter what Naru thought when he found out, she'd never be sorry.

-0O0-

AN: So, a hint at the mystery of Mai's scars;) More next week!


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Volume 12 would be out.**

**Chapter 10 – Ghost Hunting Techniques**

**-0O0-**

The next morning, Mai stared out her window, deep in thought. Her arms were once again ensconced in their black silk protection, burning reduced to a minimum. Last night's dream had ushered in a new issue, though – where was Gene? Mai had assumed that it would be easier to talk to him once she was in his home country, but she hadn't yet been able to communicate with him. And it certainly wasn't for lack of psychic dreaming.

When the Japanese foursome returned to dine at the Davis mansion the next day, Mai was quiet and stared unseeingly at her plate. Maybe if she meditated in Gene's room… but Mai wasn't foolish enough to try. Apparently, Luella couldn't bear anyone going in there – that door was (physically and metaphorically) shut tight. Perhaps later, Mai could covertly make her way around the house and feel for strong signs of Gene's presence. By the second course, Mai was so lost in thought that she failed to notice Professor Davis' constant glances.

From his seat at the head of the table, Martin surreptitiously studied Mai Taniyama. She was unusually quiet today… and she and Noll had never gone so long without fighting. Martin should take advantage of this and open a serious discussion about Mai's incredibly interesting paranormal abilities. Wednesday's training episode had been thrilling, but now he wanted to talk about the paper! Martin shoveled down the last of his noodles and mentally ran through his long list of queries.

Across the table, Luella noticed her husband's telling actions and sighed, resigning herself to a long evening of paranormal theory discussion. Honestly, she couldn't believe Martin had waited this long… Her husband steepled his fingers over his newly empty plate and eagerly addressed the new students.

"Taniyama and Yasuhara," he began.

The transfer students in question looked up to meet their professor's excited gaze.

"Now that you're all settled in and rested up from Wednesday, I would really like to talk about the paper you two sent me!"

Mai and Yasuhara both smiled warmly.

"Of course, Professor Davis," Mai enthused.

"Excellent. Now, according to the paper, Taniyama, you have the ability to consciously manipulate your aura… tell us about that."

Mai saw the light of extreme intelligence in Martin Davis' eyes, and knew immediately where Naru had gotten his penetrating look from. She smiled, blushing a bit. "Yes, I can do that. It's been coming along, just like the monks said." Mai threw a glance at Bou-san.

"Monks?" Naru encouraged.

"Yeah. About a year and a half ago, Bou-san took me up to see his family. They're a _whole bunch _of monks," Mai told the table with a grin. "Bou-san figured they would be able to help me train my spiritual awareness as well as my ability to connect with spirits."

Naru raised an eyebrow, wondering why Mai had suddenly found it necessary to train her abilities – she'd shown no desire to do so during her time as his assistant.

Mai could apparently read eyebrow-language. "After SPR closed, Bou-san sometimes brought me along to his independent exorcism gigs – because I can see spirits. But my abilities were really unpredictable. Sometimes I couldn't even identify the presence of a spirit."

"Until it attacked you," Bou-san muttered under his breath.

"Since I knew that Yasu and Madoka-san e-mailed each other," Mai continued brightly, ignoring her adopted father, "I asked about for tips to improve my… usefulness. Madoka-san suggested that I start by training my more 'instinctive' abilities, like sensing danger."

Madoka herself cut in. "Those instincts form the base of Mai's spiritual powers, so I figured a better understanding of them would go a long way towards the control and consistency she wanted to develop."

"So," Mai continued, "Instead of randomly sensing things and not really knowing what to make of them," Naru smirked at this and Mai rolled her eyes. "I could be able to consciously identify spirits – like Masako-chan. Madoka-san said I should also try to interpret the danger I sensed."

Mai became caught in Naru's gaze as she finished speaking, waiting for his remarks. He was regarding her steadily, with his very-interested-investigator stare cutting blue lasers into her mind. Then Mai noticed Professor Davis shift out of the corner of her eye and belatedly realized that she should have been addressing him, not Naru. _Damn it, she was so obvious!_

She hurriedly turned to meet the amused eyes of Naru's adopted father. Trying very hard not to blush, Mai continued. "So first, we enlisted Masako-chan's help – she's a professional medium, and her abilities meshed with what I wanted to learn. But… that didn't go so well. Masako-chan is very patient with ghosts, but not so patient with students." Mai rolled her eyes.

"Well," Yasuhara threw in, smiling, "You and Masako-chan still weren't really getting along back then. You know, because of – _ai!_" He winced in pain.

"Their very different dispositions," Ayako finished. She removed her spiky heel from Yasuhara's ankle and smiled. "Continue, Mai."

The teen psychic sent her almost-adopted-mother a grateful look. "Anyway, Bou-san knew a couple of monks who were especially adept with spiritual awareness. They work at his father's temple on Mt. Kouya. So after I graduated high school, off we went. I spent a whole week doing nothing but studying; it was really peaceful – and really useful!"

"What specifically did you learn?" Lin asked. Mai should have known that Lin would be interested; he was an _onmyouji_, after all. Mai wondered if he could sense things like she could.

Apparently, she had wondered aloud, because Lin replied, "I have to meditate deeply in order to sense auras, which you seem to be able to accomplish almost subconsciously." It sounded so much like a compliment that Mai felt compelled to respond in kind.

"Well, you can control _shiki_ and destroy scary stuff by just whistling," Mai said admiringly. "That's way cooler than what I do."

Lin gave her a small smile and Mai grinned widely back. Naru cleared his throat purposefully (everyone hid a smile) and Mai remembered that Lin had asked her a question.

"Oh, right! On that trip I mostly learned to meditate properly, and make myself more aware and receptive to my natural and spiritual environment," Mai answered.

"In practical terms," Yasuhara cut in for the confused-looking Luella, "Mai-chan spent a lot of time sitting cross-legged in a temple, humming and learning to tell the difference between the auras of living people and those of spiritual entities."

"Right," Mai affirmed, "But there's more to it than that. Sensing them is only part of the skill. Once I could feel the spirit, I had to learn to figure out it's… feelings, I guess." Mai bit her lip and tried to explain the process. "You have to gage if it's malicious – which is pretty easy to do, actually. Spirits that mean harm, especially if they're powerful enough to cause a lot of damage, are easy to spot. Their souls have an… angry energy that grates on the othersense." Mai closed her eyes and thought about how angry ghosts usually affected her. "It kind of feels like they're burning my senses, or grinding against the edge of my consciousness." Mai opened her eyes and locked eyes with those of the enraptured Professor Davis.

The clearness of Mai's gaze and the certainty of her words made Naru's stomach jump. She sounded professional; it made him feel strange. She was obviously still Mai, though – however learned she may have become, her answers still relied on feelings and instinct (rather than the detached observations that he himself favored). Naru felt reassured and amazed simultaneously.

"Eventually," Mai went on, "We went back to Mt. Kouya for more help. I had also been training at home and I was much better at controlling my astral projection (Mai wanted to gloss over Gene's instruction as quickly as possible, but had to mention the development of her other powers). I still get pulled into death visions quite often, but I can usually pull out of them if I have to." _Except for her cyclic vision of Gene's death, of course_. She had never managed to escape that one.

"I would pull out the first second," Luella noted fervently. She shuddered and reached for Mai's hand.

Mai grasped Luella's with a smile, but shook her head gently. "I usually don't try to escape the visions – I mean, the spirit is trying to tell me what happened to them. It's usually something we need to know anyway, for the case, but… so many of the ghosts were murdered, bodies hidden, loved ones never knowing. Most of them just want someone to find them and put them to rest. If I can do that for them, then I _should_ ride out the visions. So they can tell _somebody_. It usually helps them move on… like ghost therapy." She smiled at a sad-eyed Luella.

_What a girl_, thought most of the table. Naru tried not to notice the warm feeling that spread through him at Mai's words.

"So…" Mai said brightly, trying to lighten the mood, "Once I had the hang of sensing and, um…"

"Categorizing," Yasuhara supplied.

"Yes," Mai flashed Yasu a quick smile. "Once I could regularly sense and categorize spirits, we moved on to manipulation of my own aura. It kind of happened by accident. TTMPI was on a case that involved hollow spirits in Kyushu. Remember how I said that malicious spirits are easy to sense? Well, hollow spirits are really hard to sense."

"Hollow spirits?" Professor Davis repeated. It wasn't a term he was familiar with.

Mai's eyes swung back to the professor. "It's an Eastern term for ghosts that are servants of a more powerful spirit – like the spirits from the Yoshimi case, if Naru's ever told you about it."

Martin nodded slowly. That was one of the cases that landed Noll in the hospital.

"Masako-chan says that hollow spirits don't really have a will of their own, so it's very difficult to find and track them," Mai continued. "Masako-chan and I had been trying for two days, but we couldn't keep one in our 'sight' for more than a couple of seconds. So we were all sitting in base discussing this problem, and then John-kun – that's our priest friend from TTMPI, you met on the video – came up with a really cool idea." She grinned excitedly. "He figured that if powerful ghosts could mask their servants' auras, then we probably could mask mine, too."

"You aren't a slave to a greater entity," Naru pointed out.

"That's what I said," Yasuhara replied. "But Mai-chan kept at it and managed to figure something out."

Mai went red. "Well, I had help," she replied. "You see, hollow spirits are hidden by the more powerful spirit – which is mostly because that spirit's emotional output is so much greater than the hollow ones. It's not so much that the hollow spirits are hiding – it's just that the emotions we use to sense them are only faintly present in comparison to the much more obvious emotions of the controlling spirit."

"A reasonable conclusion," Martin agreed.

Mai smiled brilliantly at the praise. "So the monks and I (_really Gene and I, but sooo not going there_) brainstormed, and we developed this kind of reverse thing."

"That clears everything up, Mai." Naru's smooth voice was tinged with annoyance.

"Shut it, Narcissist, I wasn't done. And it's really hard to explain." Mai bit her lip again. "Okay, well, in order to sense spirits, I have to open myself up and stretch my othersense. To start the masking process, I have to go the other way – consciously pull inside myself. My, uh, main instructor says that some mediums – especially astral projecting ones like me – tend to always be… broadcasting to spirits. Kind of like a beacon on a dark ocean, my abilities are constantly in 'on' mode and telling spirits I'm there. It's why I usually wind up in trouble on cases." The trouble-magnet rolled her eyes.

This account greatly interested Naru. Firstly, this explained Mai's disturbing penchant for finding trouble. She was apparently calling to every spirit in the vicinity on a constant basis. Secondly, her chosen method for reversing the process, meditative internalization, was creative. And finally… Mai's stumbling over the words 'main instructor' had Naru's 'Mai-is-hiding-something' sense on overdrive. It sounded like she was trying to conceal the identity of her primary mentor in Japan. But why? She'd already said that Bou-san's monk associates had been teaching her, so why the secrecy?

Ignorant to Naru's inward questions, Mai kept talking. "So once I pull inside myself, I have to mentally put up a wall between me and the outside world," she explained. "Like the blank emotionlessness of hollow spirits, I picture a blank spiritual wall that spreads across my skin. It's all a mental thing, but then again, so is astral projecting. When I project, I pull myself out of my body and drop back in again, all using my mind. I use the same ability to manipulate my aura back inside myself and close out others."

"It makes sense to imagine a wall encapsulating the boundary of your spirit," Lin affirmed. "Like a pseudo-physical reinforcement to help the mind create what it needs."

Mai grinned, nodding emphatically. "That's almost exactly how I had it explained to me!"

Lin's eyes narrowed a fraction. "It's a spiritual technique taught to _onmyouji_," he said slowly. "Is your 'main instructor' familiar with _onmyouji_ methods?"

Mai put on her best poker face. Gene was familiar with _onmyouji_ methods because Lin had taught him about them. Must be careful. "Yeah, probably," Mai replied, as flippantly as she could manage, "I never asked." And she hadn't. Gene had volunteered this information.

The Chinese magic-user still looked suspicious, and a quick glance at Naru clued Mai in to the gears turning in her former boss' head. _Quick, deflect!_ "I don't really like hiding my aura for too long," Mai admitted. "It doesn't feel right, not being connected to the outside world. Plus, I can't sense spirits when I'm drawn so tightly into myself."

Madoka understood. "It's meant for short-term stints, then. Good if you need to hide yourself from a possible attack."

Yasuhara made a noise of agreement. "That's undoubtedly the most useful application. Mai-chan tends to wander off by herself a lot…"

Bou-san and Ayako both grunted. Mai giggled sheepishly.

"… so she often needs to conceal herself from the homicidal ghosts she stumbles upon with alarming regularity."

"They're not all homicidal!" the subject of Yasuhara's censure yelled. "Some of them…"

"…only want to maim you."

"Some of them only want to talk with me!"

"Few and far between," Ayako grumbled.

"You know, most spirits just need a little help!" Mai insisted.

"Yeah, but we don't usually get called in to deal with the peaceful ones," Bou-san noted.

Mai gave up, pouting. Her adopted father had a point. "So that's how it works, basically," she finished.

"Apart from the holes," Professor Davis cut in merrily.

"The holes?" Mai and Naru asked together.

"Yes, Taniyama. The holes that you 'punch' in your aura-mask in order to track the spirit during an attack. 'Like breathing holes for an animal in a box,' the report said."

"Oh!" Mai exclaimed. "I forgot about that. That's still a skill-in-progress; I haven't really gotten the hang of it yet."

"The hang of what?" Naru persisted.

"Um, like I said, when I'm drawn into myself and hiding behind the mental barrier, I can't really sense spirits," Mai repeated. "Which is a problem. I mean, I need to hide my spiritual abilities from interested ghosts, but not knowing where the ghost is or whether it's preparing an attack is a problem. So we… my instructors and I… came up with a theory. We figure that I can punch mental holes in my barrier – small ones – that wouldn't leak a lot of telltale energy, but would allow me to feel any malicious ghosts." She grimaced. "So far, it hasn't really worked. Punching mental holes seems to screw with the whole barrier. It falls every time I try."

Naru considered this problem. "Does it 'fall' because the barrier itself is very weak, or because suddenly compromising what you've worked hard to create is counterintuitive to your mind?"

"Hah?" Mai was lost.

Her former employer smirked. "I forgot that I need to explain things so that you could understand," he purred.

"Oliver!" Luella scolded.

Mai glared and gritted her teeth.

Naru only smirked more widely. "In your opinion, Mai, do the 'mental holes' cause the barrier to fall because it's already fragile? As in, not strong enough to withstand holes being punched into it?"

Mai pursed her lips. "No, I don't think that's it."

"I don't think so, either," Naru agreed. "Knowing how you operate – single-mindedly and straightforward – I think that forcing your abilities to do two opposite things at once is the issue. First, you concentrate very hard on forming a wall – and then you try to weaken it."

The transfer student still looked confused. Naru sighed. "Think of it like this – imagine you've just finished a paper. It took days and you're proud of it. But the moment you finish, you're asked to rip it apart. How would you react to that?"

"Not well," Mai growled. "I wouldn't want to do that. Plus I'd feel like I wasted that effort."

"Indeed. I postulate that your mind applies a similar reaction to punching holes in your mental wall. You've just said that perfecting the technique took lots of time and training. How do you think your mind feels about expending all that energy just to sabotage the product?"

Mai stared at Naru, gobsmacked. Months of effort and discussion with TTMPI and Gene without finding an answer… and Naru figures it out in a couple of minutes. She could feel, in her gut, that he was right. It would certainly explain her inexplicable instinctive reluctance to make the holes.

"Not to mention that perforating the barrier while maintaining its function can't be easy," Martin threw in. "Using two high-energy, high-concentration skills at the same time must be exhausting."

Mai shrugged. "I've done worse, but I see your point. You're both likely right."

"So you should incorporate that into training somehow," Yasuhara suggested, excited at a new idea for the long-standing problem. "Work on it while you're sleeping, like you usually do."

Mai shot Yasuhara a shut-up-right-now look. Naru had figured out the holes quandary in minutes; he could probably unravel that dream training included Gene in seconds. _No need to tell him more than he needs to know_, Mai told her best friend with her eyes. She would tell Naru about Gene's continued presence in her dreams eventually. She was still just getting used to being around him again, and she didn't want to ruin the reunion. Besides, she wanted to talk strategy with Gene first.

Unfortunately, the idea of dream training had caught someone else's attention. "You train while you're… sleeping?" Luella asked, lost.

"Um, yes," Mai said slowly, as she frantically tried to think of something to say that wouldn't give her secret away.

"Mai-chan's primary and best-developed skill is astral projection," Yasuhara jumped in to cover Mai's hesitation. Mai obviously still didn't want to discuss Gene-san – and this time at least, Yasuhara fully understood her thinking. Gene's grieving family was sitting at this table; it was hardly good manners to blunder into such a sensitive topic. "In order to use and train astral projection – and her clairvoyance, which often works in tandem with her astral projection – Mai-chan has to be very relaxed. So she meditates and often falls asleep. Most of the non-PK training actually occurs in dreamland."

_Dreamland_. Naru's eyes popped wide open and his fist tightened around his fork. No one reacted to Oliver Davis' strange behavior – the 'dream training' discussion was drawing everyone's attention and no one saw the epiphany break across his face. Mai's hesitation to discuss her 'main instructor' suddenly made perfect sense.

Because her 'main instructor' wasn't a monk. If most of Mai's training was accomplished while sleeping, Mai's trainer had had to be with her on the astral plane. And the only person that Naru knew to have met with her there was Gene.

Naru could understand Mai being cagy in order to keep Martin and Luella from getting upset. But Naru couldn't explain why Mai kept looking away from _him_. He already knew that she dreamed of Gene's death – why would she want hide this? There was something else afoot. If Mai's 'main instructor' was Gene… then Naru had been right that his twin's psychic link with Mai remained open. Too open. If Mai and Gene still saw one another on a regular basis, it could be dangerous. Perhaps the reason that Gene was still around was because he'd attached himself too closely to Mai. Naru narrowed his eyes in consternation.

Mai's secretiveness wasn't anything new. During the days of SPR, she never wanted to tell anyone about her dreams or instinctive responses to cases. Considering the results of Mai's ESP test (a thousand guesses, zero right), Naru was convinced that Mai had not foreseen a single bulb lighting because she was loath to have or reveal any ESP abilities. Mai's instincts had responded to that and so she'd missed every bulb.

So Mai's reticence could be expected. But Gene… _why would his normally very open twin try to hide something so important?_ Could he really have been meeting with Mai without telling Naru?

Dr. Oliver Davis gritted his teeth. If he wanted to interrogate Gene (and oh, did he ever), he needed a case. Tomorrow morning he was going through SPR's requests with a fine-tooth comb.

-0O0-

The weekend passed in a blur of talking and idea-development with the SPR gang, but Monday afternoon found Mai still worried about her spirit guide. This had been the longest she'd gone without communicating with Gene in a long time. In fact, this was the longest break since his mysterious post-burial return.

Mai knew that Eugene somehow used their psychic connection to find her and transport himself to Japan. Gene told Mai that he used her spirit as an 'anchor' to guide his movements. This explanation had confused Mai in the past – although now that Mai could trace Naru's presence using a similar connection, she understood much better. If Mai needed to find Naru somewhere, she could zero in on their connection and follow it to him.

It only worked when Naru was nearby, though; Gene managed cross-continental journeys almost every time TTMPI had a big case. Maybe it was easier to maneuver in the spirit world… or maybe Gene was just loads better at it. She'd ask him, but he _wasn't around_. Mai _really_ needed to talk to him – Naru had already figured out that her recurring Nightmare was about Gene. Mai needed advice on how to keep them at bay. And the more Mai thought about the whole drama, the more nervous she became. What if moving to England had damaged Mai's psychic connection with Gene?

_Then again_, she thought, _Gene usually only appeared on cases_. Eugene had told Mai that it was difficult for him to 'wake up' enough to reach her – only extreme emotions or great danger seemed to call him out. Her self-appointed spirit guide rarely appeared in normal dreams – outside of ghost hunting, he had only pulled Mai into an astral projection once.

Mai hit herself in the forehead – the answer was obvious. What she really needed was a case!

-0O0-

She enacted her plan that very evening, showing up at the Davis house at six. Martin should be home – Luella had told Mai that he usually clocked out of SPR around five. It was also a good hour before Naru and Lin would arrive ("Five minutes before seven o'clock dinner," Luella complained). James showed Mai into the downstairs study, where she was gratified to find her quarry all alone.

"Professor Davis?" Mai asked in a halfway-to-pleading voice. "I finished all of this week's reading, testing isn't until Wednesday, and… I miss working. Might there be any cases I could, um, consult on?" She smiled brightly, having noticed that Naru's father was susceptible to Madoka's happy charm.

Martin assessed Mai's eager face for a moment… and grinned. He really did enjoy her fervor. So like his own passion for parapsychology. "Of course, Taniyama! You know, I'm quite glad you've asked."

Mai smiled even more widely.

"You see, Noll just recommended a new case the other day, and he and Lin have been researching since Saturday. But the facts just don't seem to add up. I know that your 'instincts' are much more observable while actually on haunted property, but perhaps you can still identify the possible culprit. I remember that you somehow knew that Yasuhara was right about the spirit on that case we watched on video."

His student nodded. "It doesn't always work that way, but I'll certainly try."

"And that's all any serious parapsychologist can ask for. We know better than to think that psychic ability is regularly compliant." He handed Mai an electric-pink folder full of notes.

She raised an eyebrow at the very loud color.

"Madoka," Martin Davis replied by way of explanation. "She thinks it adds… levity to scary cases."

"SPR's filing must look super-professional."

"Sometimes it's just better not to fight her," Martin told a giggling Mai.

-0O0-

Mai studied the biographies and photos before her. Apparently, several middle-aged men had been injured in the last five years. All of them had suffered a choking feeling, followed by… well, followed by severe _genital_ _pain_. (Mai had done her best not to blush horribly in front of the Professor as she read this.)

She re-read the bios of all the victims… but still came up with nothing. Not even a twinge of her danger sense. "Well…" she said finally. "I'm not getting anything. Either my psychic abilities are just being, er, non-compliant today… or the victims have nothing to do with the cause of the problem."

Martin nodded slowly.

Mai pursed her lips. "Now, since all of the men are around the same age, have the same build and the same personality profile… I'd say that the ghost is taking revenge on men who resemble the person who wronged them."

"So you think it's a residual haunting?" Martin inquired. He agreed; he was simply testing her.

The young psychic nodded. "Yes. It bears several hallmarks of a residual haunting, especially the victim selection. Something bad happened to somebody there – and my guess is that it was… sexual in nature."

"I believe you're right – the genital pain issue is rather telling."

"These notes say that this haunting is in Liverpool." Mai observed. "If that's nearby, why don't we take a short trip to this warehouse and I'll see what I can sense?"

"No, I don't think so." Naru's voice stated firmly.

Mai whipped around to face the interloper – since when had he been home? "And why not?"

"Consider, Mai, the gender and age range of the victims."

"Middle-aged men," Mai recited. "I'm not either one."

"And my father is both," Naru said icily. "Glad to see your observation skills are as good as ever."

Mai clenched a fist in anger before realizing that Naru was right – dragging the Professor to the haunting was an exceptionally bad idea. She turned and bowed her head to her new mentor. "I'm sorry, sir, he's right."

Martin tried not to smile as Taniyama managed to throw a glare at his son while apologizing. "But I think you've been right on so far, Taniyama," he said in a placating voice. "Noll and Lin should have a good set of notes on any crimes, disappearances, and rape reports that took place in or near the warehouse. We can look over it all and see if we find anything useful."

"Our records are complete – from fifty years ago to the present," Naru informed them, holding up his notes. "Accounts are spotty before that period. The first company that utilized the warehouse did not keep good records."

"That's a shame, but we have a good start." Martin smiled. "How about we discuss it after dinner, when everyone is here?"

Mai nodded enthusiastically. She grabbed the files from Naru's hand and threw herself onto the couch. "I'll just start now, then." She threw another nasty glare at Naru. "Maybe I can make up for my awful observation skills by studying the notes _really_ closely."

"Maybe," Naru replied nonchalantly, walking past her out of the room. Mai shook a fist at his back.

Martin sighed. "Taniyama, I'm sorry for Noll's behavior…"

"It's okay, Professor." Mai rolled her eyes and almost smiled. "I'm used to it."

Martin nodded speculatively and followed his son out, intent on reprimanding him anyway.

Alone now, Mai settled in to read over Naru's notes. Twenty minutes in, however, she was becoming seriously bored. There was a reason that she tended to push this stuff off on Yasu. Mai was more about action than research.

Then she happened upon a report about several incidents of 'hazing' at a shipping company. The company started using the warehouse twenty years ago, remained there for ten years… and about a year before they closed, a third of their workforce was either fired or placed on probation over the 'hazing.' Mai wasn't actually sure what hazing was, but if the hot tingling in her fingers was any indication, she should probably find out as soon as possible.

As Mai stared at the report, she suddenly felt very tired. The words on the paper started to run together, and Mai felt the pull of unconsciousness. To her joy, she also thought she felt a familiar spirit. Her hand and the file fell onto her stomach as she passed out.

-0O0-

AN: This might not be the most action-filled chapter, but since I wanted Naru and Mai to be able to discuss ghost hunting together like grown-ups, it had to happen. Plus Martin needed some screen time. By the way, the title of this chapter refers to Mai's improved techniques and to hunting a particular ghost – Gene:)


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. We'd be reading manga 12 in English.**

**Chapter 11 – Welcome Back to SPR**

-0O0-

Mai's eyes popped open to see a haze of floating white lights. She rocketed upwards, ignoring the always-strange sensation of balancing herself on what appeared to be nothing but blackness. Her eyes searched around for Gene – she was _sure_ she had felt his presence right before she conked out… he'd probably pulled her into this state, after all. He did it all the time.

"Behind you," said an amused voice.

The woozy teen twisted around to see her spirit guide shaking his head at her. "All those hours spent training your senses and you don't notice me standing right here."

Mai flushed. "Well, excuse me for being dizzy!" she yelled. "It's always more… jarring when you force me into an astral projection."

"You were calling me," Gene reminded her.

"I've _been_ calling you," Mai corrected. "Where have you been? I've been worried!"

"You sound like a nagging mother," Naru's twin observed, grinning. "It was very difficult for me to find you, you know."

Mai sobered. "I kinda thought that might be it. I was worried that my moving to Europe had disrupted our connection or something."

"Not disrupted, just lost direction," Gene corrected gently.

"Right… what?"

Her love's twin laughed lightly. "Think of it like a cell phone and a tower," Gene suggested. "The phone needs to find a working tower to relay its signal. And when you go out of your area, sometimes the phone takes a while to find another tower."

"So I'm the cell phone that left my area?" Mai asked, sorting through the metaphor.

"No, I'm the cell phone. I usually ping off of your location in Japan, and it took a while to find your new address."

"But it's London – isn't your spirit in England to begin with?"

"Yes and no," Gene answered. "My body is here, and I do retain enough of a connection with it to stay a ghost. But I do not exist on the same plain that most spirits do – I live exclusively in the realm of lingering spirits. So I don't really 'live' in England – I can move wherever I need to. And I'm not a residual spirit, either; I could pass on today – I just choose not to. I still have things to do."

"You've talked to Naru once since I've been in England! I heard him say something to Lin about it." Mai tried not to sound whiny.

Gene's eyes twinkled at her, and Mai gathered that her attempt was not successful. "His location didn't change."

"But I'm in the same place as he is!"

"That's not how it works. I follow psychic connections, not real-world locations. Lin's in the same place as both of you now, right? But I can't talk to him."

"I guess he just arrived at the house. Wait, how can you sense Lin?" Mai asked, confused.

"I know he's nearby – but only because I can feel his aura interacting with yours. I have no connection to the real world, other than you and Noll."

"Gotcha," Mai nodded, her worry fading.

As if sensing her mood switch, Gene's whole manner changed. His eyes lit up and he smiled eagerly. "_So_," he started excitedly.

Mai knew this was going to get annoying in a moment.

"What's been happening? How's everything been going? My useless brother wouldn't tell me anything good!"

"Can't you read his thoughts when you're in a mirror?" Mai raised a brow.

"Sometimes, but Noll tends to block out the interesting stuff." Gene rolled his eyes. The reaction was such a Naru gesture that Mai smiled gently.

Gene apparently thought the smile meant good news. "It's going that well? Excellent, we can move up the Great Reveal!" He grinned. Apparently, missing Mai had done Noll some good and he was behaving like a human! "He's shown you he cares, finally?"

Now Mai rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous, we fight more often than we talk. Naru is Naru, after all... he doesn't really openly show care for anybody. But I think it's going as well as it could be."

Gene studied Mai for a moment, seemingly analyzing her for something. Mai just stared back.

Finally, Gene's shoulders slumped. "So not as well as I'd hoped. Well, Noll _is_ an idiot scientist, after all."

"What do you mean?" Mai asked uncomprehendingly. "It's been going… well, although..."

"Ugh, he probably hasn't even realized it yet!" Gene groused to himself. He'd hoped that finally seeing Mai would cause enough havoc in Noll's internal wiring that he might actually get a clue. Gene _had_ noticed some disquiet in Noll's thoughts when they'd last spoken, but apparently the epiphany had yet to occur. Then Gene actually processed Mai's words. "Although what?"

She cringed. "Well, we did have a little issue right after we got here. On our first night in England. I don't know if it's because I was thinking about you right before I fell asleep or because I was sleeping in the house you lived in, but I had... you know, _that_ vision." She always tried hard not to directly say she dreamed of Gene's death.

Because she wanted to avoid the guilty, pained look he was currently giving her. "I'm so – "

"Don't you dare say that you're sorry," Mai cut him off, voice fierce. "It's not your fault and I'm sorrier that it ever even happ – "

"It _is_ sort of my fault and there's nothing you could have done."

"My seeing… that… is just as much _my_ fault as it is yours," Mai retorted in a tone that brooked no argument.

Her spirit guide gave her a mutinous glance, but said nothing else.

"Anyway," Mai went on bracingly, "I had that dream on the first night we were in London. And of course we were sleeping at your house, so everybody heard me screaming and came running."

"Screaming?"

Mai winced internally at his tone. "I didn't yell anything specific," she assured him, though she was sure he was more worried about her terror than whatever she might have revealed. "They were all there when I woke up, though. Ayako slapped me awake." She grimaced. "At least I made it into the bathroom before I could throw up in front of Naru."

"You threw up?" Gene asked, looking stricken.

"Just because of the choking…" She saw Gene close his eyes and wanted to cut out her own tongue. "Never mind. Why did I even say that?" Mai smacked herself in the forehead in disgust. Time to move on. "Anyway, Bou-san _helpfully_ told Naru that I have the dream a lot. I tried to cover it up – and I did get everybody to agree not to tell Naru about you – but Naru figured it out, anyway."

"Does he know?" Gene sounded panicky.

"Know what? That I dreamed about you? Yes. I was so surprised that I admitted it."

"No, I mean about everything else. Our continued communication, my plans, the transfer…" Gene looked worried.

"He doesn't," Mai replied, watching as Gene's shoulders sagged in relief. "I told him more about the dreaming because he was suspicious and I had to give him _something_." Mai gave her spirit guide a focused look. "But you've reminded me of _my_ question. What are we waiting for? The transfer is done, it's not like we can take it back. So why can't I tell Naru about it?" Not that she _wanted _to, really. But still…

Gene sighed. "I've told you that Noll is exceedingly persistent about my lingering in this state," he replied evasively. "He'd think that our connection will affect to my ability to leave. He thinks I'll become dangerous if I stay too long."

"Bou-san says the same thing," Mai observed, noting that her spirit guide hadn't really answered her question. "Are they right about the danger?"

"No, not yet. But I can't afford for him to try to get information out of you, so you can't tell him that we meet here. And in case Noll reacts badly when he does find out about everything, I want to be around for damage control. Besides, there are things I… want to see before I pass on," Gene explained.

"I thought you _couldn't_ see the outside world – except in the mirror when you talk to Naru." Mai raised an eyebrow.

"I can't. Mai, I wasn't necessarily being literal about _seeing_," he clarified. "I'm… waiting for some things to happen. It doesn't matter whether I can actually see them – although I've had some brainstorms about that issue. It's okay if you and Noll just confirm them for me. I want to know that a few things I really want to happen… happen."

"But what if they never do?" Mai asked worriedly. She tried to imagine what these important things were. They obviously hadn't happened in the last two years – how long could Gene wait and still be okay? Mai bit her lip.

"I'm not being ridiculous with my 'list,' I picked reasonable goals." Her spirit guide argued.

"Things don't always happen the way you want them to," Mai cautioned sadly, thinking of her confession to Naru.

Gene gave Mai a penetrating look. "I'm patient. You should be, too."

Mai stared back curiously, trying to figure out what Gene was talking about.

The ghostly guide felt the first wave of lethargy rush through him and knew he had to move on. "Listen, you have to keep Noll in the dark for as long as possible," he begged her. "I've been stonewalling him about my 'unfinished business' for almost two years now. And I really want to 'see' these things happen before I leave. I… I don't get to see them in person, so please, Mai…"

Mai closed her eyes to hide the forming tears and nodded.

After a long moment, Gene spoke again. "About the transfer."

Her eyes popped open. He was finally going to tell her what to do? "Yeah? What's our strategy?"

"Don't tell Noll yet," Gene replied firmly. He wanted Mai and Noll to bond as much as possible beforehand. "I mean, he'll probably – "

"Freak out like a crazy person?" Mai guessed. She had imagined Naru's reaction several times, and it was always bad.

"Possibly," Gene admitted. "He has to find out eventually, but…"

Mai grimaced. "I know," she said. "I just can't think of a way to break it to him that doesn't involve Very Bad Consequences."

Gene considered this problem. Mai was obviously afraid to tell Noll, and honestly, just telling him probably wasn't going to do it. Noll was protective of Mai… and very stubborn. The situation might require something extra. "You know, I think the best way to reveal it to him is in the heat of the moment."

"What moment? What do you mean?" Mai asked confusedly.

"I agree with you, I don't think that just telling him is going to end well. Noll will undoubtedly be angry, and there's a chance he might not even believe you. I mean, he didn't know about the mage, or why I really went to Japan. Only Lin knew, and I don't think he's ever said anything. So instead... I think you should wait for the opportunity to _use_ it. That way, you'll prove the transfer – and yourself – necessary. I think that would be best."

Mai nodded slowly. She hadn't even thought that Naru might not believe her…

"You should also try to have someone else there watching," her spirit guide mused. He studied the lights floating gently upward, a relaxed, tired feeling spreading through his soul. _Madoka would be best_, he thought. "That way, there will be a third party to coax Noll into cooperating if he gets ridiculous."

Mai looked down at the non-floor. "Because he'll be angry about being stuck with me?"

Gene's gaze flew back to Mai, alarmed by her depressed tone. "Don't be silly, that's not what I meant. Noll is _happy_ that you're with him again. I can sense it."

"Yeah, right," Mai said sarcastically. "He's just the same as ever!"

"Exactly," Gene nodded confidently.

Mai gave him another confused look. He sighed. "Why don't you ask Madoka about his 'usual' attitude?" Gene recommended. "I'm sure she can probably explain it. Besides," he noted, feeling fatigue pull harder on his spirit, "I'm running out of time and we haven't even gotten to the case."

"The case?" Mai asked aloud.

"Yes, you know, that one you're about to go on," he replied hurriedly.

Mai almost smacked herself at her own stupidity. _Duh, the case!_ And Gene _was_ starting to fade out, she noticed.

"Anyway," he said, "Don't be fooled by the sexual nature of the injuries. It's not what you think."

"Really?" Mai asked, gobsmacked. "What do you mean? How else could we interpret…?"

Gene's image seemed to flicker, and he ignored her question. "Time to go," he noted, reaching a hand toward Mai. Then he grinned woozily, sensing an extremely familiar presence on the edge of Mai's. "Remember, be patient."

Then he placed a hand against her head and pushed her backwards.

-0O0-

Mai re-entered her body with a spiritual sort of _crash_, and her form jerked on the couch. _Not one of his better send-offs_, she thought with a groan.

She sat up slowly, wondering what to make of Gene's last statement. _Patient about what? The case?_

There was a sigh from the other side of the room. "You're finally awake," Naru noted acerbically. "You missed afternoon tea."

Mai stared at Naru for a moment, taking in the signs of aging that were not reflected in Gene's ghostly face. Gene would never give her that arrogant look, either. Her spirit guide's warning about patience finally registered, but Mai wasn't feeling very patient just now. Especially since Naru looked infuriatingly piqued and was staring down his nose at her. A traitorous part of her brain felt the pull of his compelling eyes, and Mai gritted her teeth to distract herself from the hot shiver that ran through her body. "I missed afternoon tea, huh? In other words, Narcissist, '_You weren't awake to make my favorite tea, Mai._' Cue snippy mood."

"We discussed the case that Martin wants your input on," Naru replied, acting as if he hadn't heard her. "And he's elected me to catch you up on the facts while he and Lin retrieve some files from the office."

_Great_, Mai thought, _because that won't end in yelling_.

"Since I'm donating my time…"

"Since you were ordered to donate your time," Mai corrected crossly.

"…the least you can do is make that tea you mentioned. I'll be in the dining room." Naru slinked out without another word.

Mai sat frozen on the couch, mouth open.

As Naru walked down the hall, he counted in his head. _1… 2…_

"BAKA!" Mai's enraged scream echoed throughout the almost-empty house.

Naru smirked widely and sat down at the table, awaiting the fast-approaching storm. He could hear Mai stalking angrily towards him already. She was probably scaring James right now.

The butler in question heard the young Miss scream in a foreign tongue - and paused as he cut up tonight's vegetables. When it became apparent that no bloodshed was imminent, James returned to dinner preparation. _Master Oliver should just get it over with and kiss her already_, he thought with a sigh.

-0O0-

An hour later, six researchers sat at the dining room table, sharing information and postulating their theories on the case. They were trying to figure out as much about the ghost's identity and motivations as possible before going on-site. As they argued different points, Mai realized this must be what the famous Oliver Davis did before every case – no wonder he seemed to have the problem half-solved before they even got to a client's house. Against her will (she was still pissed), Mai found herself impressed by SPR's methods and Naru's tenacity.

"Given the sexual nature of the injuries, the ghost is most likely female," Madoka mused.

At the words _sexual nature_, Mai remembered Gene's warning. "Don't be fooled by that," she mumbled, biting her lip and sifting through the bios.

"What?" Naru's voice asked sharply.

Mai looked up to see every eye at the table fixed on her. She cringed. "Um, I was just thinking that we shouldn't automatically assume that."

"Excellent point, Taniyama," Martin enthused. "We should never assume until we have all the facts."

"Is there a reason you feel this way?" Naru persisted, eyes on his squirming former assistant. She often came out with important things without even realizing it, so he knew to jump on it. But why did she sound… scared?

"Having all the facts is the scientific method, Big Boss. Surely you're familiar with it." Yasu's teasing voice belied the serious look in his eyes, and Mai recognized that he was trying to distract Naru. Yasuhara could see that she was panicking.

But so could Naru. "You sounded sure, Mai. Like you do when your instincts tell you something."

"Well," Mai hedged. "It's a _feeling_ I have." She had a _feeling_ she should listen to Gene.

Naru narrowed his eyes. "Two years of training and you can't get further than 'it's a feeling?'"

"Well, not all of us are super-genius parapsychologists!" Mai fired back.

"Obviously," Naru replied haughtily.

"You are so arrogant!"

"Exceptionally aware," he countered. A pause. "As opposed to some people."

_That's it_. Mai cracked and flew out of her chair, intending to hit him with something.

Mai didn't even make it a step before Madoka clothes-lined her. As Madoka forced the struggling girl back into her seat, she gritted out, "Mai-chan, Noll is just trying to bait you because he thinks you're holding something back."

Naru just glared at his mentor's exposure of his strategy.

"Don't be like that, Noll. I just saved your butt." Madoka threw him a mean look of her own.

"As if I don't know when to duck," Naru replied, extremely annoyed. Now Mai was going to clam up.

"All of you are being ridiculous," Martin cut in a hard voice. "Noll, desist with haranguing Taniyama. It is entirely possible that Mai cannot get more specific than a feeling – psychic powers are unpredictable. A person with a doctorate in the subject should know better."

Naru twitched visibly.

The professor turned to the hot-eyed Mai. "Taniyama, assaulting my son might be exactly what he deserves and would no doubt entertain the entire party, but I doubt it will accomplish anything relating to the case we're puzzling out." Mai grinned a bit, before nodding dutifully and relaxing into her chair. She also took a moment to enjoy Naru's sulkiness following his father's censure.

Martin regarded the last combatant. "And Madoka... good show." The professor heard Noll's testy sigh and smiled inwardly. His sons used to go on and on about Martin's 'blatant favoritism' towards Madoka. He lost himself in nostalgia for a moment before shaking the mixed emotions away. "Moving on," he said firmly. "Taniyama, is there anything else about the case you have a feeling about?"

"Yes," she replied immediately. _See what happens when you ask nicely, Naru?_ "This file is important." She slid a pink folder across the table. "And…" she trailed off as Martin picked up the folder.

"And?" Martin repeated gently.

"And I could almost hear something," Mai replied obediently. "The usual when I'm on a case and come across something."

Naru gritted his teeth. He just knew Mai was being extra-helpful to get back at him. But then again… he supposed his baiting _had_ worked, after all.

"Do you want to try touching the file again?" Madoka asked.

Mai cocked her head. "I could try, but I don't think I'll get anything else right now. I should really go to the site and see if that gives me anything."

Yasuhara jumped in to explain. "We've noticed over the years that if Mai is 'tuned in' to the haunting before we get there, her response to the site is usually very quick and strong."

"Not to mention," a just-arrived Bou-san said from the doorway, "If Mai senses something before a case even starts… it usually means it's going to get nasty."

Luella's voice sounded from the front hall, hailing Martin. Reluctantly, he excused himself. Ayako and Bou-san moved out of his way, then seated themselves at the long table. Mai saw the shopping bag on the shrine maiden's arm and figured they'd been out buying apartment supplies with Luella.

"Well," Ayako said slowly, staring at Martin's retreating back, "At least if the ghost is picking exclusively on middle-aged men, Mai is safe for once."

"That's true," Bou-san said, brightening. "As long as we keep Martin away from the site, we should be relatively alright."

"Hm, I'm not so sure about that," his fiancé said silkily. "Aren't_ you_ going?"

"Yeah," Bou-san affirmed, looking confused.

"So the ghost is going after middle-aged men."

"And?" Still confused.

Yasuhara choked on a laugh. Mai tried her best to giggle silently.

Ayako's eyes danced meanly. "Middle. Aged. Men."

"_So what?_" Bou-san was visibly annoyed, but he still didn't get it.

"Dear me, maybe you need a hearing aid as well as protection from the ghosts…" Ayako noted, tapping a red nail against her face.

"I heard you just fine, and why would I need protec…" Bou-san froze.

"Aaaand, there it is," Yasuhara declared.

"Are you calling me a _middle-aged_ man?" Takigawa roared.

Mai groaned, knowing she was going to have to fix this.

Ayako examined her manicure. "That certainly took you a while – maybe your deductive skills are deteriorating with age? We'll have to keep you locked up in the base for safe-keeping."

Madoka and Yasuhara fell all over themselves laughing as Bou-san snarled at Ayako. Naru rolled his eyes – although he felt a small twinge of nostalgia at the familiar bickering. Lin ignored all of them and continued studying the file that Mai had indicated.

"So you're marrying a middle-aged man, then?" Bou-san asked meanly. "What does that make you?" he taunted. "You're too old and too rich to be a pretty little gold-digger, so I guess that makes you an _old maid_." He narrowly avoided Ayako's swinging purse.

"Don't those parameters sort of make Bou-san a gold-digger?" Yasuhara wondered aloud, deliberately stirring the pot a bit more. "And Ayako is his easy mark or something?"

The 'mark' in question let out an incomprehensible scream of frustration and launched herself at Bou-san. Madoka was no longer holding her down, so Mai raced over to separate them – pausing a moment to whack Yasuhara on the back of the head for purposefully making it worse.

Naru watched Mai jump into the line of fire and cleared his throat. "How could we ever confuse either of you with the middle-aged?" he intoned loudly.

This comment was strange and… complimentary(?) enough to stop the action. Everyone turned to Naru.

"After all, you consistently behave like unruly children." Naru nonchalantly flipped a page. "No one would ever mistake you for wizened adults."

Bou-san and Ayako immediately geared up to yell… and then realized they'd be playing right into Naru's hands. Looking decidedly defeated, the engaged twosome collapsed against the wall. Mai found the wall, too… and somehow wound up being used as Bou-san's headrest. Again.

"How come you always use _me_ to hold yourself up?" she cried indignantly.

"Get taller," her father-figure replied simply.

"Masako-chan is shorter than me!" Mai hissed mutinously.

Then she and Bou-san both imagined using the pristine and expensively-dressed Masako as a headrest. "Riiiiight," they said together.

Feeling defeated herself, Mai sighed and relaxed against Bou-san, submitting her shortness to his whims.

Naru noticed their close positions out of the corner of his eye. Something about the whole thing bothered him. "Mai, since you are actually pertinent to this discussion, I suggest to return to your seat."

Madoka grinned, understanding better than Naru himself did. "What's the matter, Oliver, do you think Mai-chan can't hear you from over there?"

Naru twitched at his mentor's needling of his admittedly irrational response. "It is hard enough to get Mai to focus when not distracted by the _children_ over there."

"Say what?" Mai asked loudly.

"My point exactly," Naru replied calmly. "Sit, Mai."

"He is one hard nut to crack," Yasuhara whispered to Madoka.

She giggled. "Don't worry, I haven't even started yet."

Lin cleared his throat, eyes flicking to the very-close-together heads of his girlfriend and the troublemaking Yasuhara.

Naru raised an eyebrow at the subtle show of emotion by the stoic Lin. _Foolish_, Naru thought to himself. _As if Lin has anything to be jealous over. _A cup of tea appeared in his line of vision; James seemed to have sensed it was time to serve refreshments.

Mai huffily threw herself into Martin's vacated chair (farther away from Naru than her own chair) and snatched up a couple of victim bios. Naru glared at she noisily leafed through them, and Mai stuck out a retaliatory tongue.

A few seats down, Madoka seemed to sense Lin's disquiet and reached over to hold his hand under the table. Lin relaxed and barely kept from smiling in public. Then a snide comment from Naru (something about noisy readers) drew Lin's attention back above the table... Mai was muttering about taking Naru's tea away. Naru rolled his eyes, but moved his tea out of her reach.

Lin studied Naru quietly, aware that his still-prickly mood had everything to do with Mai's and Bou-san's display of physical affection. And yet... Mai was presently ignoring Bou-san's attempts to ask her about the case; she was too busy having a glaring war with Naru. _Oliver's being foolish_, Lin thought to himself. _He has nothing to be jealous over_.

And then Martin returned, bringing sanity back to the party.

"Any good ideas while I was gone?" The professor asked brightly.

Sweat-drops all around.

-0O0-

"So," Yasuhara said to Mai, adjusting the camera in his arms. "You look kinda worried."

"I feel… something bad. I'm not sure what, though." Mai squinted at the building looming ahead of them. She shivered.

"Jou-chan, stay close to one of us, alright?" Bou-san looked grim.

"Okay, but that usually doesn't matter," Mai reminded him.

"Because you eventually wander off like an idiot," the monk growled.

His adopted child put out her tongue. "Maybe you should put me on a leash or something."

Bou-san looked thoughtful. "Hmm, not a bad idea…"

"I was_ kidding_."

He ignored her. "Maybe I can make one out of extra cables and bless it with a Buddhist prayer…"

Ayako nodded as they approached the employee entrance. "I'll write a few sutras to attach to it, and we'll clip the leash to Mai's key necklace. She never takes that off."

Bou-san pursed his lips. "Maybe we should _weld_ it to the necklace - so she can't just un-clip it and run away."

"You guys are both_ insane_!" Mai hissed. "You are not 'leashing' me and you are NOT welding anything to my favorite necklace!"

"You may not have to get so extreme," Yasuhara threw in, grinning. "After all, we know the ghost seems to prefer middle-aged men. That's like the total opposite of Mai-chan. It probably won't go after her."

Mai wasn't so sure, although she wasn't about to tell her overprotective parent-figures that. Mai stepped into the warehouse with a feeling of trepidation; she could feel negative energy swirling around like a thick fog. She could also hear something again – sounds of clunking, hissing, footsteps tramping on metal. Her eyes flew around the room, trying to locate the sources of the sounds – even though she was almost certain there wouldn't be anything to see. And there wasn't. Mai closed her eyes and concentrated harder, trying to identify whether there was a spirit present.

All of a sudden, something pinged to her left. She threw out an arm and pointed in the direction that she felt the presence – someone's feet ran off in that direction. Bou-san's aura was moving; it was him. "Be careful, Bou-san," Mai called, eyes still closed. "Don't be aggressive."

A step behind her, Naru regarded Mai intently – she had certainly grown more impressive in the last two years. She had located a spirit almost immediately… but what had really surprised him was that she could identify Bou-san's aura specifically (and quickly) AND sensed enough about the spirit to warn him against violence.

Lin's face was stony as he taped Mai for the professor, but inside he was kind of shocked. He could see that Noll felt the same way. They both watched Mai frown, eyes still closed.

"Is there a reason that you keep your eyes closed?" Naru asked quietly, already knowing what her answer was likely to be.

Mai threw an arm out in the direction of the presence, physically reinforcing the direction in which she wanted her powers to focus. "Yes," she finally said. "It helps me. When I'm not looking at anything, it sharpens my othersense." She stopped moving abruptly. "What? That can't be right."

Naru had more faith in Mai's sensing abilities than her reasoning, so he asked, "What can't be right? What is it?"

"The spirit…" she said, reaching toward it like a human dowsing rod. "It's a… man?" Her eyes popped open and she looked to Naru, confused.

Naru raised an eyebrow. It was not what they were expecting, what with the spirit's attacks on male genitalia, but certainly possible. And hadn't Mai herself told them not to be fooled by the sexual nature of the injuries? "Why couldn't it be?" Naru asked simply, stepping around her and following Takigawa into the next room.

"Wait! Naru!" Mai called, voice edged in worry. The first presence seemed non-threatening, but a dark weight was spreading eerily along the edges of Mai's senses. The negative energy of the warehouse seemed to resonate with this darkness and gained spiritual, invisible form.

There was something else here.

-0O0-

AN: The first real case with Britain's SPR has started! I hope the chapter sounds right, my eyes were crossing with sleepiness towards the end.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. The anime wouldn't have ended before we found out Naru's real identity lol.**

**Chapter 12 – Multiple Ghosts and Double Entendres**

-0O0-

Mai froze, eyes flying around the cavernous space. She couldn't see the presence, even though it was growing stronger by the minute. She heard a door slam somewhere. Then she felt the new spirit draw closer to them… toward Lin.

Even as Mai swung to face the _onmyouji_, she felt the spirit… pause. She could barely see a smoky outline, as if the spirit had gathered all the dust from the rafters and surrounded itself with a dirty gray covering. She could feel intense anger emanating from this spirit, and its harmful power raked across Mai's senses. This one _wanted_ to do harm… but it wasn't moving forward and wasn't preparing energy for an attack.

It was hard to get anything else on it. Mai bit her lip in frustration, narrowing her eyes at the barely-there ghost as if that would help her read it better. The way the spirit hung there in front of the alert Lin… it was almost like it was sizing him up. For _what_, exactly? Mai suddenly felt like dozens of eyes were on her and realized that the spirit was watching her now. Yet she visualized _lots_ of glowing eyes in her mind… what did that mean? The spirit's regard shifted to Yasuhara briefly… before disappearing completely. Mai hurriedly searched the adjoining rooms with her othersense. She found no malicious whatever-it-was… but the first, docile spirit wasn't around, either. They were both gone. Mai let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

Then the door to the room where Naru and Bou-san had been smashed open. _That must have been the door that closed_, Mai figured. But the nasty spirit's whole attention had been on Lin, Yasu, and herself. Had the first spirit trapped the others? Why would it have done that? Mai was distracted from her thoughts by the re-emergence of Naru and Bou-san, breathing heavily and coughing from the dust that had kicked up when the door hit the floor. The grime curling around them reminded Mai of the smoky film that had surrounded the angry spirit.

"You guys okay?" Yasuhara asked solicitously.

"Yeah, are you?" Bou-san asked. "I felt something else out here, but our spirit locked us in."

_I guess that answers one question_. But _why_ did it shut them in? "We're fine," Mai answered. "The second spirit… is angry and violent. But it just… observed us, I think. Then it disappeared."

"Observed you?" Naru repeated.

"Yeah, I felt it look over each of us in turn. Lin first, and it watched him the longest," Mai answered. "Then me, then Yasu. I felt like it… _dismissed_ us, or something."

"None of you are middle-aged men," Naru reminded her. "The spirit has preyed exclusively on that demographic. I would postulate that it assessed Lin the longest because he is the oldest male out of the three of you."

"But it didn't look at, er, _assess_ you guys," Mai said, confused. Bou-san was around the same age as Lin.

"I do not think that it was aware of them," Lin informed her. "The spirit materialized in this room and immediately focused on us. The door slamming… perhaps the non-violent presence was attempting to _guard_ Noll and Bou-san?"

"It's possible," Naru said after a moment. "It would explain the agitation Bou-san sensed in the first spirit once the other presence made itself known."

As if hearing someone call for it, the first spirit reappeared in the doorway to the other room. Mai, Lin, and Bou-san all turned towards it immediately.

"It's going back into the other room," Mai said, her eyes following the wispy form until it disappeared. Bou-san and Naru walked straight toward it. "Guys, wait, maybe you should…" They ignored her and disappeared again.

Mai exchanged a glance with Lin.

"We should probably follow them," Lin noted, not moving an inch. He found he wasn't exactly thrilled at the prospect. The second spirit was bound to notice the presence of _more_ male invaders and might attack… and genital-crushing wasn't something Lin really wanted to rush into.

Mai seemed to understand his reluctance and giggled. She couldn't sense any danger, anyway - even the feeling of foreboding Mai felt upon the entering the warehouse had lessened considerably. Her instincts told her that Bou-san and Naru were safe.

Yasuhara made a noise. "Well, _I'm_ not going in there. I like my manhood nice and un-crunched, thank you very much." His glasses flashed. "I do wonder about our more intrepid investigators, though… Bou-san and Naru just walked right back in there. I'm not sure whether that makes them brave or reckless."

"Well, Bou-san just jumps right into things," Mai replied. "He probably hasn't even considered the consequences."

"Naru surely has, though." Yasuhara grinned. "So, reckon he's brave, then? _I_ think he's worryingly unconcerned about future functionality."

"Functionality?" Mai asked innocently.

Lin groaned under his breath. Madoka snorted.

"Unconcerned for the functionality of his manhood," Yasuhara elaborated brightly, enjoying Mai's obliviousness. "Which would be worrying, of course… because it infers Naru doesn't anticipate a need for usability."

Lin felt this would be a good time to turn the camera off. Where was that button again?

"Whaaa…?" Mai was still a little lost.

Yasuhara rolled his eyes, grinning slyly. "Don't be so dense, Mai-chan. I'm saying that Naru, given his constant lack of romantic companionship, might not feel _functionality_ of his _manly_ _equipment_ is a must."

Mai finally got it, and blushed so hard that Lin wondered whether she'd pass out from the blood rush. He finally located the power button… and resolved to edit this entire conversation out before letting the professor (or Naru) near the video.

"_Yasu!_" Mai yelled, so loud that dust must be shaking from the rafters. "Don't_ say_ things like that!"

"Quite the decibel level there, Mai-chan. Is your strong response a sign of concern for the safety of your future sex life?" Yasuhara teased remorselessly. "That's practical of you."

Mai actually burned redder, which the still-watching Lin hadn't thought was possible. Then again, the _onmyouji_ was having a hard time controlling his facial expressions as well, especially as his hysterically giggling girlfriend was now using him to hold herself up. He busied himself with the camera's self-lighting program and tried to block them all out.

Head in her hands, Mai racked her brain for something to throw back at Yasuhara. "_You_ should be worried, too, Yasu," she finally managed. "I mean, Bou-san and Naru are both in a possible _crunching_ zone. Wasn't it lust at first sight when you met them on your first case? Shouldn't you be concerned about the future of _your_ sex life?"

Madoka considered this interesting tidbit. So Noll had asked Yasu to join SPR even after receiving a confession of homoerotic lust? How had _that_ happened? Noll had _no_ sense of humor when it came to the workplace.

Yasuhara smiled coyly. "Of course I'm worried, Mai-chan, but not really for myself. Unfortunately, I don't think it's meant to be. Both of those hotties have lasting commitments."

Mai looked lost again, waiting for clarification. Lin raised an eyebrow, wondering whether Yasuhara recognized Noll's unknowing interest in Mai. _And would he really just blurt it out?_

"Well," Yasuhara continued, "Bou-san is engaged, as I'm sure you've noticed, Mai-chan… and Naru's long-standing affair with himself keeps him from noticing my charms."

Mai burst out laughing, while Lin breathed a secret sigh of relief. They were here to investigate, not to have ill-timed romantic revelations distracting the highly distractible Mai.

"You know," Mai wheezed between giggles, "I think you're ignoring the most probable reason for Naru's lack of concern."

"And what's that?" Yasuhara asked.

"Naru's unshakable pride probably protects him from even thinking his... _equipment_ could be in danger," Mai snickered.

Yasuhara and Madoka laughed uproariously, and even Lin smirked. Mai was undoubtedly correct.

"But Noll _should_ worry about his _equipment_ a little," Madoka said blithely. "After all, if he _is_ in an affair with himself… he'll need_ it_ for his own use."

At this, Yasuhara actually fell over in hysterics. Lin audibly choked and almost dropped the camera.

An overwhelmed Mai just put her head in her hands and tried very hard not to think about... _Naru_ doing _that_. "Ugh, you guys are awful!" she cried. "I'm going after them!" As she turned on her heel, though, she felt the first ghost's presence vanish. "Oh, never mind. The first spirit's gone again." Mai shook her head to clear it, trying desperately to think of something to do that would get her away from the laughing pervs. "I'm going to start setting up."

"How unexpectedly industrious, Mai."

Naru's voice surprised the teen psychic and she jumped. Naru passed her swiftly, managing to carefully pick up a monitor without even slowing. Mai envied his grace.

"See, Mai-chan?" Madoka said knowingly. "Noll does care about the _equipment_. He knows he needs it for his_ business_."

"_Urusai!_" Mai screamed, so frazzled she reverted to Japanese. Yanking a tripod from the pile, she ran for the designated base.

Naru whipped around at hearing Mai yell – only to see Yasuhara and Madoka falling all over themselves laughing. Then Mai zoomed past him, her face bright red. Confused, Naru looked to the unflappable Lin for an answer, but his Chinese associate was determinedly avoiding his eye and unnecessarily fussing with temperature gages.

There was a crash from the base. Mai, of course.

Yasuhara cupped a hand around his mouth to call out to the klutzy investigator. "Mai-chan! Be careful with Naru's _equipment!_ You don't want to break it your first time holding it!"

"Shut UP!" Mai's frustrated shriek, this time in English, echoed off the warehouse's bare walls.

Madoka had to lean against Lin _and_ the equipment pile to keep from collapsing with laughter.

Naru narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "I have no idea what puerile game you're playing, but please refrain from upsetting Mai any further. That equipment is expensive and insurance doesn't cover everything."

"Big Boss, I'm sure the kind of surgery required to fix your_ equipment_ would be covered. I mean, survival of the species is important – so I'm sure the procedure would count as a necessity to your insurance provider."

Naru just stared at Yasuhara, who was attempting to look innocent but losing badly. Madoka sniggering into Lin's arm was not helping Yasu's case, either. Naru's mentor finally managed to pick up a few shelves and staggered towards the base, still half-hysterical. Knowing that asking would lead to nothing good, Naru decided not to bother.

He focused on Mai's grinning researcher. "Yasuhara, get moving. This all needs to be set up by nightfall." Another crash sounded from the base and Naru closed his eyes in frustration. "Start by gathering up the extension cords. I'm going to assist Mai before whatever she is handling dies a quick death."

Yasuhara's eyes popped wide and Madoka dropped her shelves. Lin just groaned.

"Yeah, you _should_ go assist her with that," Yasuhara replied, a huge grin on his face. "Premature equipment death is a very serious problem."

Madoka, already near the floor to pick up her shelves, fell over completely. Lin (unable to take any more) pinched the bridge of his nose, swept up an armload of gear, and race-walked to base.

At the word 'premature,' Naru clicked that the nonsense Yasuhara was spewing had to be sexually derived. He remembered the period of time that Gene had sought similar amusement, twisting perfectly normal sentences into dirty jokes. It had been a very trying few months. After much arguing, Naru came to the conclusion that ignoring his twin was the only way to stop it. Luella, the psychologist, called it 'extinction behavior.' _Ignore it and it will stop_.

With this thought in mind, Naru addressed the foul-minded assistant. "Yasuhara, as you seem determined to be useless on site, you can fetch lunch for the group. And seeing as you've wasted at least ten minutes of our time with whatever idiotic word-association joke this is, you can pay back my time with your money. You're buying. Now go." Naru turned on his heel and faced Madoka. "The client should be returning in a few minutes. I assume, as the _lead investigator,_ you'll want to meet him in base and not on the floor." Naru shifted the monitor to one hand and picked up two of Madoka's shelves. "Surely you can manage the rest," he said frigidly before marching off.

Yasuhara and Madoka stared blankly at one another for a moment. Then they cracked again, snickering quietly into their sleeves.

"Poor Mai-chan," Madoka noted, wiping tears from her eyes. "Pulling the stick out of him is going to take a while."

"It's alright – Mai-chan is a fighter," Yasuhara replied with relish. "So, what do you want for lunch?"

-0O0-

Mai watched Bou-san and Yasuhara trudge upstairs to position two more cameras. When they were finished, Madoka reckoned SPR could leave for the night. Mai stood just outside the base (formerly an employee lounge), staring into the main room of the haunted warehouse. Darkness had fallen outside, and the warehouse's interior lighting wasn't really bright enough to finish equipment set-up. Madoka and Ayako had found a couple of floodlights in a storage closet, which were now set up on opposite sides of the main room. Mai was relieved to see them; the shadows produced by the less-than-stellar lighting had creeped her out.

Speaking of shadows… Mai bit her lip and stared at the spot where the other presence had disappeared. If she looked closely enough, she could almost see something hulking in the corner. She pulled her trusty flashlight from her jacket pocket and shone it into the dark space. Nothing. Just the circle of light, wobbling slightly as Mai's fingers shook in the chilly air. And some cobwebs. But still, Mai's attention was drawn to that corner – and not just because the second ghost had disappeared there. Her instincts were calling to her. _Something there, something important_. She bit her lip. At the very least, they should have a camera over there.

Fortuitously, a camera was sitting not four feet from her, facing the center of the main room. There were two other cameras focused on the middle of the room – overkill, in Mai's opinion. _It should be over there_, Mai knew in her gut. _In the corner_. She glanced back at Naru and Lin, who were poring over computer readouts, talking to Bou-san via walkie-talkie, and not paying any attention to her. Mai knew she should tell them she was moving the camera, but she really didn't want to spend the next twenty minutes arguing about it with Naru. SPR was almost done and Mai's creepy senses had been tingling since nightfall – she wanted out of here.

So she slunk out of the base doorway and picked up the camera, including the leather bag that held extra tapes. She tried to be extra-quiet as she unraveled the extension cord and snuck across the warehouse floor. A silly part of her tried to avoid looking into the dark space as she hastily positioned the lens to face directly into the corner. Suddenly, Mai saw a flash out of the corner of her eye.

A ripple of prickles across her skin was the only warning of incoming unconsciousness. Mai felt her knees give and regretted that no one was around to catch her as she collapsed to the floor.

-0O0-

Mai found herself standing in the same room – only it was now very dark. Only a few lights were on overhead – the way a warehouse would look if it were closed for the night. But surely no one would have left her here! _No way_, she told herself firmly, tamping down the panic inside. _My friends would never leave me here_. She was dreaming – of another night at the warehouse.

A cursory trip around the room verified this – lots of strange equipment lined the walls, only a few of which were there now. A huge conveyor belt dominated the central space, linking the rooms together. There were boxes lined up at the end of the belt; Mai guessed that the boxes held whatever the warehouse produced during whatever time period this was. Much more experienced after three years of psychic dreaming, Mai automatically looked around for time-establishment help – maybe there was a newspaper around somewhere? She struck it rich by the door – a bulletin board listed employee information and government documents. The business license for the place said it was good until 1982. Okay, then. Next order of business – why was she here? There was no one around. _No Gene, either_, her mind supplied grimly. Mai focused on what _was_ around – equipment and boxes.

When she got to the corner that had brought on the dream, Mai took in the unfamiliar piece of equipment that rested there. Gleaming and obviously well-used, it didn't seem really threatening. It's not like it was a saw or something (that was to the right, and Mai gave that a wide berth). But something about it twigged Mai's senses, so she studied it more closely. It had a crank, which apparently moved those two big pieces of flat metal somehow. What did it do? More importantly, what did it have to do with the case?

Suddenly, Mai heard the sounds of raucous laughter coming from somewhere. She flattened herself against the wall and glanced around, scared. She could hear men's voices… but couldn't make out anything specific. She looked to the stairs leading to the offices – were they up there? Should she go up there? Where was Gene when she needed him? Then the doorway to the offices opened and several men poured out. They were all carrying alcohol bottles and were obviously more than a little drunk.

"So what should we do tonight, fellas?" A voice asked. "I mean, other than break in and drink in the boss's office?" More laughter.

"Well, I guess we can drink some more down here," another voice suggested half-heartedly.

"Nah, I've got a better idea," a third voice said. Mai's hair stood on end; she didn't like this voice. "Why don't we go into the employee files and get some addresses for some people? I've got an idea about what to do to fix that guy."

"Sounds like a plan," the first voice replied. The group of men (faces unhelpfully obscured in the darkness of the room) wandered back upstairs, a few tripping over themselves, others laughing. The room faded as they vanished, and Mai felt the presence of the first spirit briefly as the world spun around her.

-0O0-

She groaned as she woke, sweeping a hand across her face and forcing her eyes open. Mai became aware of several people turning to look at her. Everyone was in the base. She was lying on an old couch, with Bou-san's coat thrown over her. A jacket Mai recognized as Ayako's was balled up under her head.

Yasuhara rushed into the room. "We're good, guys. Door's open now." Mai had no idea what to make of this statement. She was about to ask Yasu what was going on when her adopted father appeared in her line of sight.

"You back, jou-chan?" Bou-san asked her, holding her chin and searching for injuries. Mai almost said that she didn't actually get hurt in the visions… and then registered pain in her right knee and right shoulder. She rolled her shoulder experimentally and whimpered at the ache zinging down her right arm. She had probably landed on it.

"You hit your shoulder when you fell," Ayako observed, confirming Mai's guess. "You're lucky, you know – your head hit the camera bag instead of the floor."

Mai nodded. "Good," she said weakly. "Last thing I need is a concussion. How would we know if the dreams were real?"

"You dreamed, then?" Naru's quiet voice cut across her consciousness. Mai still wasn't used to him being there, ghost hunting with her again, and had to suppress a feeling of excitement before it showed on her face.

"Yeah," she replied. "It was 1981 or 1982, I think. I don't know how long business licenses are good for in England. And I was in the warehouse at night. There were boxes, lots of shiny, cared-for equipment. The place was obviously in business at the time. Low lighting – no one was supposed to be there. But there were a bunch of guys drinking in the offices. They'd snuck in and were looking for something to do. I couldn't see any faces, but there were a bunch of them. I heard three different people speak, and one of them was definitely bad. He gave me the shivers. He also suggested looking at the employee files; he wanted to find someone's address. To get back at them somehow. Then they left and I woke up." She said all of this immediately, so that somebody could get down as much as possible before details of the dream faded. You never knew what was going to wind up being important.

She heard Madoka scratching notes and Lin typing, but Mai only had eyes for Naru. Who regarded her with an expression of slight shock. Mai couldn't help grinning. She knew he wasn't expecting her to share so much – after all, when she worked for Japan's SPR, she rarely told anyone when she had dreams, let alone relay them with such detail. _But I'm a lead investigator now_, she reminded him with a smug look.

Naru narrowed his eyes, reaching for a case book without breaking eye contact. "I'm so thrilled that you've learned the value of cataloguing your experiences, Mai," he said condescendingly. "Did the men mention anything about why they wanted to get back at this particular person?"

"No," she said tersely, annoyed at Naru's superior tone. He always managed to turn it around on her!

The object of her fury smirked, knowing he had gotten to her. _She's started it, hadn't she?_ Mai had a long way to go if she thought one dream re-telling was going to leave him dumbfounded.

Madoka sighed. "You guys can have your 'whose is bigger' contest later. Let's get everything you can remember down first, Mai."

Her new boss' no-nonsense voice pulled Mai back into the conversation. "Sorry, Madoka-san," she said. "Um, that's mostly it. Except there was a piece of equipment in a corner that… I could feel something from. But I don't know what the thing was or why it called to me. Oh! And the first spirit was there for a second! Not like it was already in the warehouse, but like I felt it as I was waking up."

"Maybe it was the one who showed you the dream?" Yasuhara hazarded.

"That makes sense," Naru said cryptically, making a note and studying Mai's face. She looked tired. "Let's go to the hotel. It's late, and we've already been locked in here once tonight."

"You mean 'today,' not 'tonight,'" Mai corrected him absentmindedly. "It was still daytime when you and Bou-san got trapped in the other room."

"No, Mai, I mean tonight," Naru replied testily. "We were all locked in the warehouse for the duration of your dream."

Her eyes widened. "I'm sorry," she said softly.

"How is it your fault?" Naru asked, snapping his case book shut. "It is just more evidence that the first ghost sent you the dream – he wanted to make sure you stayed to see it."

Mai smiled tremulously, her spirits buoyed by Naru's words. She stood up shakily, leaning heavily on Bou-san. "Then let's go," she said rather jauntily. "This place is creepy."

Naru decided that Mai was back to normal and grabbed his coat. "Haunted places usually are, Mai."

-0O0-

"I don't know why we didn't see this coming," Mai groaned, beating the stuck front door with her fists.

"Yeah, we _did_ get locked in last night. We probably should have left the door open or something," Madoka agreed.

"Of course, because the spirits haven't already closed numerous doors on us," Naru drawled, already searching the floor plan for safe places to sleep.

"Well, sure, Naru. But remember that case with the class who died in the bus crash? We only got locked in _after_ closing the door."

"I suppose that's true," he agreed absentmindedly, locating a room upstairs that might be suitable. Apparently, the officers of the corporation had their own private lounge; there were couches in there, and Madoka had brought emergency sleeping bags after getting locked in the night before. If Naru went up there now, he could make up a couch for himself before Madoka ordered all the men to sleep on the floor.

Mai allowed herself a grin – Naru actually agreed with her! A win! She ran her fingers down the seam of the door, trying to find any give. None. "Okay, there's no exit. I guess we're sleeping here tonight." She sighed. "I can feel the psychic nightmares coming on already."

"Well, we do need information," Madoka noted. "Other than a police file on hazing and some drunk employees from 1982, we've got nothing."

"What is hazing, anyway?" Mai asked. "I don't know that word."

"Did your classmates ever steal someone's shoes, or hide books to be mean?" Madoka asked her.

"Um, yeah, some girls did that. There was this one girl who stole my friend Yuka-chan's class ring in junior year… and a few of Yuka-chan's friends tormented her for a while. They ended up fighting in the classroom and my other friend Keiko-chan almost got…"

"Obviously Mai understands the concept, Madoka," Naru grumbled. "Bring the conversation back around before we have to hear about every episode of hazing that occurred at Mai's high school."

"Hey!" Mai pouted.

"Right, so that would be considered hazing, Mai-chan," Madoka said firmly, stopping the argument before it started. "Now let's find somewhere to hole up for the night, so Koujo and Bou-san can start warding it."

"We should stay in the corporate officers' private lounge upstairs," Naru stated firmly. "It will be the most comfortable place, and big enough for all of us to stay together."

"We're all going to stay in one room?" Mai asked, her voice higher than normal. _She was going to sleep in the same room as Naru?_

Ayako winked at Mai, guessing her thoughts. "It would be safest," she noted, smiling at her future daughter's blush.

"Excellent! Mai-chan, we can share a sleeping bag to conserve heat," Yasuhara's serious tone was belied by his dancing eyes. "It'll save space, too!"

"Absolutely not," Bou-san snapped. "Mai will be sleeping on one of the couches, and I'll be sleeping on the floor right next to it. So don't even try it, _shounen!_"

Naru glared daggers at the bespectacled teen. "Yasuhara, we are supposed to be professionals on a case. Refrain from propositioning Mai."

"Just Mai?" Yasuhara asked, grinning. "One would think that you would ask me not to proposition _anyone_, Big Boss."

Lin wondered how Yasuhara managed to get the light to flash off his teeth like that. He was also now positive that the observant teen had picked up on Naru's deeper feelings for Mai Taniyama. The brief, gleeful glance that Madoka threw Yasuhara immediately filled Lin with dread – if those two were working together… Lin felt sorry for Naru.

Who didn't answer, but instead snatched a sleeping bag from the emergency stash and strode towards the stairs. He felt the childish urge to demand that Yasuhara sleep in the lounge's attached shower stall. Pity he wasn't SPR's lead investigator.

"Girls get the couches, Noll!" Madoka trilled from behind him. Naru whirled to face the foiler of his plans. She _sparkled_ back at him. "Besides, you and Koujo are on base duty tonight. The two of you barely sleep, anyway."

"A logical choice," Ayako agreed, smiling slyly as she shouldered past the glaring Naru.

-0O0-

Lin looked up to see a groggy Mai wending her way down the main stairs.

"Is she sleepwalking?" Naru asked softly.

His assistant squinted at the screen, trying to get a look at Mai's face. Then she tripped a bit, sliding down two steps and barely managing to catch the railing. "I don't believe so, no," Lin replied coolly.

A minute later, Mai meandered into the base. Without a word to either person in the room, she collapsed over the side of the couch and crawled up its length. Her questing fingers found a throw pillow and she burrowed into it. "Ugh," she groaned into the upholstery. "Trying to sleep in a haunted warehouse sucks. Especially when I've got Princess Ayako whining about space heaters. Madoka-san just goes to sleep like a normal person, but Ayako? Nooo. Even Masako-chan is better behaved at bedtime."

Lin continued typing and Naru kept reading. Both knew Mai would eventually stop talking.

"After two hours, she's still whining about the cold. 'All that money for cameras and only one space heater,'" Mai muttered, imitating Ayako. "She's driving me crazy."

"So you've elected to inflict similar distractions upon us?" Naru asked, an annoyed edge to his usual monotone.

"No," Mai mumbled. "I'm coming here to sleep."

"We'll be typing and comparing notes for hours. And there is a lot of light in here." Naru wasn't actually trying to get Mai to leave; he just didn't understand her thinking.

"It'll still be more relaxing than listening to Ayako," Mai replied tiredly. "If only I knew where she kept her... _sedatives, I'd give her one…"_

Naru looked up in interest. Mai had switched back to Japanese about halfway through her last sentence. He felt a strange urge to keep her talking.

"_I don't think you should administer needles, Mai_," Naru noted, speaking Japanese himself.

"_Good point_," Mai replied, almost asleep. "_I'd probably do it wrong and then there'd be blood everywhere. Like on the vise_."

Lin and Naru both paused and stared at Mai.

"_What do you mean, 'on the vise?_'" Naru asked, keeping his voice calm so as not to alarm Mai.

"_There's blood all over the vise_," Mai responded, eyes closed and voice soft. "_One of the foremen saw the spots after they tried to clean it up. That's how they got caught_."

"_That's how who got caught?_" Naru persisted gently.

"_The people who did it_," his target replied unhelpfully. She was almost totally out now.

"_Did what, Mai?_"

There was no answer. She was sleeping. Naru immediately wondered whether Mai was still 'here' or in a dream of the past.

"Maybe when she wakes up, she'll know more," Lin noted, obviously thinking along the same lines as Naru.

Naru nodded, eyes still on Mai. She shivered on the couch. Mai was wearing warm pajamas, but this warehouse was certainly colder than their usual domestic locales. And they hadn't planned for keeping the base warm overnight. Sighing, Naru retrieved a blanket from Madoka's emergency bag. He tucked it around Mai's prone body, noticing that she stopped shivering almost immediately. As she snuggled cutely into the blanket, Naru felt Lin's eyes on his back.

"If she wakes up now, we won't get any information," Naru explained, irrationally feeling the need to clarify his motives.

His longtime assistant hid a smirk.

-0O0-

AN: Sorry this is a day late I've been sick all week and couldn't edit properly. My head finally cleared enough to make sense of words today!


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Manga would still be going lol.

**Chapter 13 – Employee Conflicts**

-0O0-

Mai felt something warm fall on top of her – it felt nice. She also felt something warm near her; strands of gold wrapped around her. She reached out for the source, her powers caressing the presence. She smiled and curled into the warmth all around her, falling deeper into sleep.

_There was blood on the vise_. The words echoed through the blackness surrounding her.

"What?" Mai asked the empty space. She wasn't in a psychic dream now, was she? She couldn't see anything…

Because her eyes weren't open.

"Idiot," Mai reprimanded herself, opening them wide and looking around. She was in the warehouse again… but it was empty. No people. No lights on upstairs to indicate the presence of drunken marauders. Just a warehouse at night.

"What's this doing here?" a gruff voice asked. Mai whipped around… but saw no one.

"It looks like… blood, sir." This voice was nervous, quavering. Both were men. She still couldn't see anyone.

"That's because it _is_ blood, Gallway," said the gruff voice.

"Gallway," Mai repeated, committing the name to memory. "What blood?" she wondered aloud.

"On the vise," came a whisper. A frightened whisper. Mai suddenly felt the presence of the more docile ghost – but saw nothing. "Where are you? What's a vise? Where's the blood?" Mai spat rapid-fire questions until her investigative training kicked in and tased her nervous tongue. Masako always warned Mai not to ask too many questions – it tended to agitate spirits. But Mai was a little freaked out – she couldn't tell what was going on. She could hear voices and sense the first ghost, but she couldn't_ see_ anything in this supposed _vision_. And somehow, that scared her more than watching another murder.

"Are you Gallway?" she asked the spirit. No answer. She could sense him flitting around on the edge of her consciousness. Like a dog… one that had been beaten and was skittish around people... Mai inhaled sharply, understanding. "You were the victim, right?" she asked the empty space. "You were the person they wanted to get back at. And you're not the ghost that's hurting people now – that's definitely the other spirit. So why are you here?"

"I'm going to call Jimmy at the hospital and ask some pointed questions," the gruff man's disembodied voice rang through the space. Mai couldn't even identify a vague location – the words seemed to be coming from everywhere.

"Jimmy?" Mai reiterated. Another name. At least Madoka and Naru would have something more to go on. Then Mai felt a surge of something coming from the upstairs corner of the main room – opposite the corner where the mysterious machine once rested. The wispy form of the first ghost materialized. Clearly a man, eyes wide and horrified, he hovered in the corner of the room. Arms flat against the wall, as if he were trying to push himself through it. His ghostly fingers scrabbled on the concrete. He wanted very badly to get away from something. But what?

Maybe _she_ was scaring him. "Hey, I'm not here to hurt you, I'm here to help," Mai told him. She adopted a warm, soothing tone, which her fellow mediums suggested for conversations with troubled spirits. She reached out a hand. "Jimmy?" she guessed, offering the spirit a smile.

"JIMMY," boomed a different voice. A bad voice. Its echoes crept up Mai's arms like waves of polluted water. The second presence was back – Mai felt a sudden chill and the hair stood up on the back of her neck. She turned, arms raised in her defensive stance… but _still_ couldn't _see_ anything.

And then the screaming started.

Horrible, awful shrieks, angry yells, wounded-sounding moans. And worst, begging. Voices of terrified men begging someone to let them go, to stop, that they were sorry… The first ghost was screaming, too, although Mai couldn't identify his voice above the din. She could see his mouth open wide, though, and his terrified eyes as he turned away and tried to claw his way out.

Mai had no idea what to do. She couldn't exorcise something she couldn't get a lock on! The screams rang in her head and she felt like the whole warehouse was shaking around her. Her eyes and othersense swept the room, searching frantically, while her hands clamped over her ears in a vain attempt to drown out the awful noises…

And then a familiar hand grabbed Mai's arm and pulled her away from a smoky substance. It was all around her and she hadn't even noticed! She looked up at Gene, uncomprehending and frightened – and he yanked her toward the door, out of the smoke, and through the door to a supply room. The shrieking was much quieter almost instantly, although Mai wasn't sure whether it was because they were in another room or away from the encompassing fog.

"Sorry," Gene gasped. "It took me a while to get in here. That guy has some power for somebody so scared. He locked me out."

"The first ghost locked you out?" Mai asked, confused. "I mean, I know he locked us _in_…"

"He probably wants you to deal with the other ghost – none of you are its type, so he must figure that you guys are his best chance to get rid of the fog thing."

"Fog thing?" Mai asked, amused despite the situation. "I would think that Mr. Perfect Medium could do better than 'fog thing.'"

"Well, I can't talk to it," Gene groused, shooting Mai a glare that lacked the frigidness of Naru's. "I don't even know that it's one person. I actually think it's more than one entity."

"You're right," Mai said, suddenly sure. "When it looked at me, I could feel lots of eyes on me."

"Alright, well, you tell Noll that when you wake up," Gene instructed her. "We have to go. This isn't going to get any better." His gaze flicked toward the other room, from which blood-curdling screams still emanated.

"But the scared spirit!"

"You have to help him in the real world, Mai," Gene reminded her. "That's where ghosts need to be exorcised from."

"Right, sorry, it's just…" She saw those scrabbling hands again and shivered.

"I know," Gene squeezed her shoulder. "It'll be alright. He'll move on as soon as you get the other one. Tell Noll and Madoka what you saw and maybe they can make something out of it." He placed his hand on Mai's forehead. "But be careful, Mai. Don't mention me at all, okay? Noll's been trying to contact me since day one of this case and I think it's because he's suspicious. Explain this dream in a way that makes it look like you don't know what's going on."

"Well, that shouldn't be too hard," Mai replied, rolling her eyes. "I _don't_ know what's going on."

Her guide snorted and pushed her backwards. The teen psychic closed her eyes, relaxed, and followed the pull of her body. Mai fell back inside herself and waited until the spinning feeling slowed before opening her eyes. "Is everything alright?" she asked woozily.

The room seemed mostly empty… except for a blurry shape hunched over the computer monitors. Mai blinked until Lin came into focus. He was wearing headphones and studying the readouts intently. She wondered if he heard the screaming voices – which thankfully, she couldn't hear now. She couldn't feel either spirit anymore, either. She did get a couple of names, one of which might be the name of the nicer ghost. A part of Mai couldn't believe that Naru wasn't harping on about the dreaming yet. Usually, he would have accosted her by now… "Where _is_ Naru?" she asked quietly.

"On that chair over there, sleeping," Lin replied. Mai jumped; she hadn't been expecting an answer, he was wearing… nope, Lin now held the headphones in his hand. "Did you witness any of this?" he asked, waving a hand at the digital readouts of high noise levels. Apparently, the screaming had crossed over into the real world.

"Yeah," Mai said, nodding. "Did you hear the yelling?"

"I heard a lot of static and noise – and what might have been a few screams." Lin raised an eyebrow.

"Lucky," Mai muttered. "I heard _lots_ of it." She edged off the couch and made to join Lin at the desk. Then she glanced over at the wingchair - and froze at the sight of a sleeping Naru. Mai unconsciously stopped breathing and blushed. He looked so… beautiful when he slept.

Lin cleared his throat and Mai blushed harder. She also thought she saw a glimmer of a smile before he motioned her over. _Interview time_, Mai knew.

-0O0-

"Day two of being stuck in a warehouse," Bou-san groaned.

"This is not what I had in mind for today," Ayako moaned. "I figured we'd go on a tour this morning. We haven't really done that yet." They both slouched onto the couch in base and pouted like moody teens.

"You guys could do something useful and try an exorcism on the doors," Mai suggested edgily. "I really don't think any of our problems are going to be solved with whining."

"Spoken like a true Boss, Mai-chan," Yasuhara noted with a smile.

"Shut up, Yasu. How's that research on Jimmy coming along?"

"As well as before – nothing useful. No one named Jimmy worked here in the 1980's, according to the employee rolls. Unless he was off the books, in which case..."

"There wouldn't be someone named Jimmy on any employee rolls," Naru said suddenly, peering at Yasuhara.

"Why not?" Mai asked. "I definitely heard the bad ghost say 'Jimmy' – right before all the screaming started."

"Jimmy is a nickname," Naru replied. "Employee records wouldn't list someone by their nickname. You should be looking for someone named James."

For a moment, Yasuhara and Mai just gaped at him. Then they both sprang into action, grabbing files and starting over again.

"Early 1980's first, Yasu. That license said 1982," Mai reminded him as her eyes ran feverishly over names.

"On it, Mai-chan. Ooh! Here!" Yasuhara pointed excitedly at a name. Mai and Naru both came to stand behind him, bumping shoulders. Naru glared, Mai smiled back.

"Battle of the Bosses, huh?" Madoka asked. "Well, since _I'm really the boss_, why don't you just give _me_ the info?"

-0O0-

"Day two in the creepy warehouse," Yasuhara repeated, using Bou-san's words from hours earlier. Then he grinned wolfishly. "Or rather… _night_ two. Ready for bed, Mai-chan?" He ducked as a clipboard and a couch pillow came flying at his head, courtesy of Bou-san and Mai herself.

"Didn't we already have this ridiculous conversation?" Naru inquired tightly.

"Yes, but bedtime is like jackpot time for us," Yasuhara replied. "Mai does her best work at night." Then he waggled his eyebrows at Naru. "Interpret that any way you want."

"Hey!" Ayako yelled as she slapped him upside the head. "Don't be nasty. Wishful thinking on your part, anyway."

"Can't blame a guy for trying to move things along," Yasuhara murmured.

"What things?" Mai hissed. "Propositioning your best friend?"

_She really is dense sometimes_, Yasuhara thought with an internal groan. "Oh, Mai-chan. I'm flattered to think that you imagine me propositioning you…"

"Who else _would_ you be propositioning?" Naru asked through his teeth. Ayako was engaged, and Madoka was with Lin.

Yasuhara assessed Naru's irritation level and decided not to push the issue right now. It wouldn't do for Naru to glare all night. After all, if Naru assumed a non-threatening face, Mai was much more likely to blush and stare at his pajama-clad hotness. Big Boss wasn't on base duty tonight, and Mai's reaction to 'Naru at bedtime' would likely be very entertaining. So Yasuhara decided to go with a different tactic… and annoy someone else. "Well, those two aren't married _yet_," he replied cheerfully, pointing to Bou-san and Ayako. Adopting an extremely serious face, Yasuhara intoned, "I won't give up on Bou-san until the day he's wearing a ring."

"_Shounen!_" Bou-san cried, shuddering. "We've talked about this!"

"I remember – you declared your undying love for me," Yasuhara nodded solemnly. "But you're afraid that society will shun us, that I'm too young for you, that Ayako will stab you to death with a wedding-cake knife…"

"Yasu, you _know_ I hate it when you get creepy like this," Bou-san warned.

Mai and Madoka both snickered into their sleeves.

Yasuhara feigned shock. "_I'm_ creepy? You're the one who wants to seduce a teenage boy."

"Ugh! I do _not_, you little…" Bou-san lunged for his tormentor.

"Bou-san, please!" Yasuhara caught Bou-san's hand and clasped it to his own chest. "I know it feels like it's been forever, but wait until we're alone." He lowered his eyelashes demurely.

Takigawa's mouth dropped open in shock… before he came to his senses and ripped his hand away from a grinning Yasuhara. "You are one sick kid, Yasu. And you know what? I'm going to fix this the same way I did last time." Bou-san pulled out his cell phone and wiggled it for emphasis. "I'll tell your mother that you're hitting on me… and that your 'magic number' is fifty. Girls _and_ guys."

"Fine, fine, I'll stop!" Yasuhara waved his hands in surrender. "I don't want to deal with the yelling. She'd probably come to England and drag me home by my ear." He sighed in defeat and grabbed a flashlight. "By the way, my number is nowhere near fifty. I'm good, but I'm not _that_ slick. I'll take it as a compliment, though." He marched off toward the stairs, followed by a snickering Mai.

Naru took a sleeping bag and race-walked after them, figuring that he could secure a couch _and_ make sure the profligate Yasuhara was sleeping a good distance from Ma – from the only unattached woman in their group.

-0O0-

Mai wandered around the dark warehouse. It looked different, somehow. Still creepy, still full of machines – no, wait. The machines were different. In the present, Mai was sure there was a gigantic saw over by the stairs (she always tried to memorize the locations of anything she felt she might trip over on site). She was in the past again. And sure enough, that crank thing was sitting in the corner. Mai walked over to consider it more closely – it felt like it was calling her somehow. It was a strange-looking machine… it seemed to center on two flat pieces of metal that were attached to a crank. Mai reached out to touch the crank – and her hand fell right through it. _Right, dreaming_. She stepped back and studied her surroundings.

Until scuffling noises came from another room. _This is most likely the crime scene_, she figured. This guess was reinforced by the entrance of six people. Five men were pulling a sixth one across the room, toward Mai. The sixth man was obviously only semiconscious – his head lolled back and his feet dragged along the ground. He was ferried up to the machine Mai had been studying.

"Wake him up!" one of the other men hissed. For the first time, Mai noticed that all five were wearing black handkerchiefs over the lower halves of their faces. That couldn't be good.

Another man slapped the sixth guy hard across the face. He groaned in pain as he came to. Mai sympathized – face-smacking was Ayako's emergency wake-up of choice.

"Where am I?" the man asked foggily. Once he opened his eyes, Mai recognized him. It was the first spirit!

The others laughed. They weren't nice laughs. "Some prize employee this one is," one of the masked men said. "Can't even recognize the factory he works in."

Murmurs and mean laughs rang across the empty room, and Mai realized she'd heard all this before. These were the people from her first dream. Then she thought about the shrieks from the second vision. Ice dropped into Mai's stomach as she grasped that she was definitely about to be witness to something awful.

"Well, Jimmy, we have a little thing we like to do with all the new guys – well, all the new guys who make us look lazy." The masked man who'd spoken first was talking again now. Mai took him to be the leader. His voice was definitely the one that gave her shivers in previous visions.

"You're… hazing me?" The mostly-conscious man (who Mai now knew was definitely Jimmy) asked.

"Yeah, you could say that." Mai could hear the mean smile in Leader's voice.

_Hazing_, Mai's mind screamed. That was in the police report. Something about people getting in trouble for hazing. Madoka had explained it as pranking or fighting… but apparently it also meant dragging a drugged colleague into work after hours and marching them up to some machine.

Which Leader was now operating. Mai watched him turn the crank – the two flat pieces of metal were inching closer together. What would that do, exactly?

She shouldn't have wondered. As if in answer to her unspoken question, Jimmy was shoved up against the machine. The pieces of metal were at waist level. Eyes drawn there already, Mai couldn't help but notice that another of the men took hold of Jimmy at the waist and yanked his pants and underclothes down. She turned away instinctively, embarrassed – some guy's… _equipment_ would be hanging out!

_Equipment_… her stomach dropped. All of the haunting victims wound up with crushed genitalia. Mai's eyes flew to the crank – if those two pieces of metal met, and Jimmy's very nearby manhood got stuck in there…

"Flop it in there, boys," ordered Leader. Mai felt sick.

"We're not touching it!" yelled one of the two men holding Jimmy.

"You don't have to touch it, you idiot." Another man was speaking. "Just kick him forward a little."

"What – what are you doing?" Jimmy asked, now fully awake and panicking.

"Teaching you a lesson in workplace safety," Leader replied calmly.

More ugly laughter. Jimmy was shoved forward, and from his reaction, Mai gathered that _it _was in there.

"I don't understand – why are you_ doing_ this?" He sounded terrified now. Mai _hated_ these dreams.

"I just _told_ you – for the foreman's new lapdog, you sure are slow." Leader shook his head mockingly. "We're teaching you a lesson – two, in fact. Number one – don't get your dick caught in a vise. And number two – don't make the rest of us look like fools. I almost got fired this week because of you." Leader turned the crank turned slowly, and the metal pieces crept closer together. Jimmy tried to move, tried to escape, but there was no way he was getting past five big factory workers. The crank kept going.

Mai knew exactly when the metal started its terrible work and met flesh – because Jimmy redoubled his efforts to escape and started yelling incoherently. He managed to hit somebody… but wound up being punched a few times as punishment. The crank kept creaking, and Jimmy whined in fear, thrashing. Mai closed her eyes, feeling like a chicken but not being able to stomach any more. A horrible screech rang out, and she clapped her hands hard over her ears, humming a tune and shaking her head as if that would make it stop.

Thankfully, Mai felt a sudden swirling around her, which usually meant that she was leaving a vision. She found the courage to open her eyes and watched the dark shapes around her dissolve into the warehouse in daylight. The machine (the vise, she now realized) was still there – looking less lethal and looming than it had in the dark. But Mai took one look at those unforgiving hunks of metal and shuddered.

As she watched, a man in a hardhat approached her. A younger man walked beside him, pointing to the machine. "Something's wrong, sir. The crank felt funny when I started up this morning, and I know it's in a different position than when I left it yesterday. And when I looked closer – it's very… shiny, sir. Like someone cleaned it up really well – but I know I was the last one here."

The hard-hatted man nodded, inspecting the machine himself.

"Also, sir – I…" the younger man looked down. "I heard something this morning." His voice was very low.

Hardhat stopped his inspection and motioned for the nervous man to continue.

"Well, it's just… some of the guys were saying that they had some fun with Jimmy last night. And Jimmy's wife just called… he's in surgery at the hospital. _And_ he's the third one this year with a mysterious hospital visit. None of them say exactly what put them there."

"Yeah," Hardhat replied slowly, grimacing. "I think there's some stupid shit going on here."

The younger man looked down again. "Me too, sir. The last time.. I'm pretty sure that some of my coworkers broke in here the night before Ray was hospitalized. And the vise was very clean that time, too."

Hardhat turned back to the machine, running his eyes carefully over the operational section. Suddenly, he froze. "What's this doing here?" he asked urgently.

The other man moved to Hardhat's side immediately. "It looks like… blood, sir."

"That's because it _is_ blood, Gallway," Hardhat said in a heavy voice. Mai recognized this dialogue – these were the bodiless voices she'd heard in the second dream. "Well, just to be sure," Hardhat continued. "Call the police. Do it quietly… and have them test this _substance_. If it's blood, I know who to interview about it. I'm going to call Jimmy at the hospital and ask some pointed questions." His eyes hardened. "I don't mind hazing if it's not harmful. But I think there's something really nasty going on here and that's not going to fly anymore. Call the police and then hole yourself up in my office with the secretaries. I don't want those idiots after you, too. There's no way they'll do anything in front of the women."

Gallway gulped nervously, but nodded and hurried off.

Hardhat looked at the incriminating spots again before walking away in disgust. After he'd walked across the room and picked up a phone, Mai took action. She edged forward, and after a moment, found what the two men had seen. Spots of blood speckled the dark wood that supported the metal pieces. Someone had wiped down the metal and even scrubbed the wood, but blood was hard to get out of things. Plus, the five masked men had been operating without a lot of light, so they might not have been able to make out the remaining dark stains on the dark wood.

_Jimmy was still alive_, Mai realized. And if the look on Hardhat's face indicated the fate of the masked creeps, they were going to get in _big_ trouble. _Good_, she thought rather fiercely. Mai looked at the dusty window, face grim, and the world spun again. This time she knew she was waking up.

-0O0-

Mai groaned as she opened her eyes. Naru was sitting right next to her, already dressed. (No longer in the dark blue pajamas that Mai had idiotically blushed over last night.)

"You were moaning in your sleep," he said by way of explanation.

She only nodded, staring out the small window. It was still pitch-black outside. "I had a dream," Mai offered. "It was… really awful – but very helpful."

Naru said nothing, but retrieved his black casebook and a pen. And Lin.

Mai smiled a bit at the familiar actions. Then she put her head in her hands and started talking. "Well, for starters – I was right about the genital-crushing not being a sexual thing." Mai shuddered as she remembered Jimmy's struggling, and the men's laughter. She wondered how she was going to get through this interview. Mai decided to go with a method that Ayako recommended for trauma witnesses at the hospital.

Naru raised an eyebrow as Mai stared resolutely out the window and re-told her quite horrifying dream in a quick, detached monotone. Her fingers' twisting in the blanket was the only sign that she was emotionally affected by her tale at all. Knowing Mai as he did, Naru guessed that this was her coping strategy. And knowing her visions were often as disturbing as his… she needed one. Even Lin looked a little green when she got to the vise closing and the screaming.

"Alright," Naru said finally. "I think that's enough."

"Then the dream shifted," Mai continued as if she hadn't heard him. She wanted to get this all out so she'd never have to say it again. "It was the morning after, and one of the workers and his boss noticed some missed bloodstains and figured out the gist of what had happened. They called the police. And then Hardhat told the worker to go hide in his office, because the bad guys wouldn't hurt anyone in front of the girls who worked in there."

"They called the police?" Naru furrowed his brow. His mind flashed back to the police report of mass firings and jail time. If the whole thing had been taken care of… why the continued issues? The victim survived and his tormentors were punished. Why would the spirit be looking for justice?

Mai, however, was no longer paying attention. Her focus was on the second presence, more powerful and darker than ever, out in the main room. While Mai was telling the story, it had burst into being like a spark of fire in a dark room. By the time she got to the end, it had grown into a swirling wildfire of darkness.

Bou-san evidently sensed it, too, because he woke out of a dead sleep and bolted out of the room.

Naru looked up in alarm.

Mai answered his unasked question. "The other ghost is back, Naru, and it's bad."

Lin quickly rose from his chair. "It's in the main room of the warehouse," he said, walking out the door.

The sound of Bou-san's chanting got Mai and Naru up and into the main area. Upon reaching the trouble spot, Mai gasped. The presence was _huge_ now, menacing but still amorphous. It was easier to see, though… more like smoke than a person… or… like a person inside a moving cloud of smoke. Mai could see a pair of cherry-red eyes piercing through the cloud.

"I don't understand," Mai murmured. "I thought it was more than one spirit…"

"What do you mean?" Naru asked, as they both watched Bou-san face off against the ghost.

Across the room, Ayako, Yasuhara and Madoka ran onto the landing at the top of the stairs. With a hard swallow, Ayako stepped in front of the two non-combatants and raised her hands to prepare for the Nine Cuts. Realizing she should be doing the same, Mai mirrored Ayako's hand movements and stretched with her senses. The ghost was really angry, but Mai couldn't sense… Suddenly, Mai felt a wave of _something_ go through the presence. The smoke around the ghost roiled in response, and Mai saw the brief outline of a burly hand reach toward Bou-san as the noxious smoke rolled forward.

Too late, Mai yelled. "Bou-san! It's going to attack!" She started to run, but an iron hand clamped around her upper arm. She turned as Naru pulled her backwards and behind him. "Naru, no! I've got to…"

"AAAAH!" Bou-san's body flew backwards and crashed into the cement wall. He crumpled to the floor and lay unnaturally still. Mai screamed. Ayako took off down the stairs and yelled the Nine Cuts at the ghost, movements sure and eyes on fire. Lin whistled, and two _shiki_ rocketed through the attacking cloud of smoke. Their combined efforts did the trick, and the smoky mess collapsed back in on itself. Ayako reached Bou-san and threw herself between his fallen body and the spirit. Its attention turned to Ayako, and Mai felt another wave of _something_ rock the enormous smoky spirit. Fearing another attack, Mai fought Naru's solid grip on her – but instead of billowing forward, the red eyes dimmed and the ghost vanished. Ayako and Lin converged on Bou-san as Madoka and Yasuhara rushed down the stairs.

Mai yanked herself out of Naru's hold and ran for her adopted father. Ayako had Bou-san's head in her lap and was searching his skull with skilled fingers. She found a lump, but no blood. When she pressed lightly on the mark, Bou-san groaned and his eyelids fluttered. "Ayako?" he slurred. "You look upset… did you knock me out this time?"

"No, you moron, the ghost did!" Ayako's voice was shaky and Mai could see tears in her eyes. She hunkered down next to her adopted parents and held Bou-san's hand. He squeezed it lightly, and Mai relaxed a bit.

"The ghost knocked me – wait... _it didn't crush my dick, did it?_" Bou-san launched upwards, almost knocking heads with his startled fiancée.

"No," Ayako gritted out, "But I might, if you don't lie back down this instant!"

Bou-san winced and obediently dropped his head back onto Ayako's lap. Mai laughed despite herself and waited for Ayako's verdict.

"Well, you've got a nasty bump on your head, Houshou, but nothing serious. You've also scratched your arms; I'm assuming the scratches are the result of your collision with the wall – there's cement in one of them. Otherwise, you're okay."

Mai breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey, jou-chan, I'm fine." Bou-san smiled at Mai, brushing worry lines from her forehead. "I'm actually happy it's not you for a change."

"Whatever," Mai replied, rolling her eyes. "_I'm_ not happy. I should have been there to help you." Her eyes flew up to fix Naru with her nastiest glare. "What were you doing back there?"

Naru glared right back, eyes narrow. "Keeping you from doing something stupid," he replied icily.

Mai clenched her fist. "Something stupid? You mean like providing back-up, which I do all the time?" Naru opened his mouth to speak, but Mai cut him right off. "I might have needed protection back then, Naru, but I don't now! Just because you haven't been around to see me fight, you just assume I can't do it! Well, I've _greatly_ improved my fighting skills in the last two years – as I'm _sure_ we've mentioned already. If you hadn't held me back, I could probably have done something to help Bou-san!"

"Vague attempts to 'do something' are _not_ helpful, Mai," Naru retorted frigidly. "Jumping in front of the ghost without a plan only changes the ghost's target, not the outcome."

"I was _going_ to throw the Nine Cuts at him and decrease the force of the blow. I knew exactly where the attack was coming from, Naru. I'm probably the only one who saw the arm moving inside the smoke. And I'm the first one who knew the attack was coming. But noooo, Mr. Know-it-all had to interfere, because he knows best in every situation!" _Even emotional situations that he doesn't actually understand._ "What if Bou-san had gotten really hurt? He's my adopted father and I have every right to try and protect him – especially since I _know how!_"

"You said 'him,' Mai-chan," Madoka said suddenly.

"What?" Mai asked irritably, reluctantly turning away from the fight.

"You said you were going to use the Nine Cuts on _him_," Madoka elucidated. "You believe the second ghost is a man?"

Mai blinked. Had she said that? She thought about it for a moment. "I definitely think that the ghost in the center – the one with the red eyes – is a man."

"The center?" Yasuhara repeated.

"Yes, the eyes in the center of the smoke. There's a man in there, at the center. I could barely see an outline before – but those eyes definitely scream out 'guy' to me. And I think that the guy is one of the people who tortured Jimmy."

"Tortured?" Bou-san asked from the floor.

"Yeah, I had another dream. A bunch of awful guys, the drunks from my other dream, they drugged Jimmy and brought him to the warehouse at night. Jimmy made them look bad, or something. Then they crushed his… _equipment_ in the vise. That's why there's all that crushing going on now. But it's not Jimmy – the first ghost. I still don't know why he's here. One of the bad guys is doing the crushing… but I really thought the fog thing was more than one person. In fact, I'm almost sure it was more than one person." Gene had thought so, too.

"Fog thing?" Naru intoned condescendingly.

Mai bared her teeth at him. "Not my words, Dr. Davis," she hissed. It had been the great Naru's perfect medium brother who'd coined the term... and she _wasn't supposed to say anything about that! _Damn her big mouth!

Naturally, Mai's statement (and the wincing that followed) sparked Naru's interest. "Really? Whose words, then?"

Mai didn't hesitate. "Yasuhara's." She hoped her best friend was on the ball.

"Yes, well, I figured our nasty spirit should have an appropriate moniker. It adds a bit of levity, don't you think?" Yasuhara asked gaily.

Naru gave Yasuhara a long look, as if he were trying to see into the transfer student's mind. Mai had a brief vision of Naru's laser glare bouncing off of Yasu's glasses and burning holes into an unsuspecting wall.

Mai marched off to the stairs before Naru could turn back to her (and read the guilt on her open face). "I'm going to get dressed," she called archly. "And I'll get Bou-san an ice pack."

-0O0-

Mai heard footsteps approaching the makeshift bedroom. A quick psychic scan told her it was Naru. She zipped up her hoodie, pulled her toothbrush out of her bag, and made for the employee bathroom. And then, like before, Naru's hand caught her arm in an unforgiving grasp. Mai whipped around, pissed all over again. "What now?" she seethed. "You think I can't brush my teeth without supervision?"

"Sometimes I wonder," her captor replied unhelpfully.

Mai made a disgusted sound and tried to rip her arm out of his grasp. Naru held fast.

"Wait," he said thickly. Something in Naru's tone made Mai obey, although she glared mutinously at the side of his face. Oddly, Naru seemed to be struggling to speak. Finally, he said, "I… apologize for misunderstanding your intentions."

Mai's mouth dropped open; she couldn't help it. This was maybe the third time Naru had apologized to her… ever. "What?" she asked dumbly.

Naru glared at her, assuming that Mai wanted him to apologize twice. But a closer look at her astonished face made him realize that he needed to elaborate. Naru stared resolutely out the window while he spoke. "You have grown… exponentially in experience and ability since our last case together. My usual course of action – to keep you from involving yourself in a fight – may no longer be appropriate."

Emotions swirled in Mai's gut – astonishment, warmth, smugness, and gratitude all fought for dominance.

"However," Naru continued, facing her again. "I would like to remind you that I have yet to see you in 'action,' Mai. As you are well aware, I base my reactions on facts. So until I see evidence to the contrary, my first response will likely be to pull you out of harm's way. I have rescued you enough times for the compulsion to be understandable."

Mai wasn't sure what to think. Naru's usual condescension had returned to his voice, which would usually get her back up… but his words weren't mean or unfair. They were true… and implied that Naru cared about her. She _knew_ he did, but hearing him actually say something like that rocked Mai to the core. It almost sounded like Naru was saying that he _wanted _to keep rescuing her. Mai's breath hitched and she looked away quickly. "Yeah, you have rescued me a bunch of times," she replied feelingly. She remembered Naru's body crashing on top on her, arms caged around her as they fell, protecting her from the collapsing ceiling at Ryokuryou High School. It was one of her favorite (and most blush-inducing) memories.

"Indeed," Naru agreed tonelessly. Mai wanted to see his face, but didn't trust herself to look at him. She'd blush, he'd see it and smirk, she'd start yelling, and they'd be off to the races again. "I was also thinking about the eight hospital trips that led to your adoption," he continued. "And not ten minutes ago, Bou-san said that he was relieved that you weren't the one hurt, _for once_. Your aura is constantly calling for ghostly attention. You said it yourself."

"I have developed several skills to deal with that attention, Naru," Mai reminded him. "And if you want evidence that I can do it…" She turned and looked straight into his eyes. "You're going to have to let me."

Naru stared blankly back at her for a moment. "Fine," he agreed tightly.

Mai smiled. Victory!

Naru wasn't done, though. "But… you have to be more cautious. You do tend to charge in first and ask questions later, Mai, even after all your training. You are still driven by emotions and impulses, a combination which does not often engender good decision-making."

Mai huffed. He had to ruin the moment, of course. But he also had a point. "It's true that I get hurt a lot, Naru." She sat back on her couch-slash-bed. "But my _impulses_ are often very useful, as you yourself discovered on the Hexer case. Relying on my impulses is a good thing – and emotion makes my powers more effective."

Naru raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

"They do!" Mai argued. "You just saw it happen with Ayako! She was worried about Bou-san, and her powers responded! She was better at exorcising than usual!"

Naru sighed and rolled his eyes. "Lin's _shiki_ attacked as well, quite efficiently and probably more effectively – and Lin is a paragon of emotional control."

"Yeah, because Lin totally didn't flip out on me over the Japanese thing, or laugh at Yasuhara's stupid 'equipment' jokes. Oh, wait, _yes he did_."

"Have you ever seen Lin lose it during an exorcism?" Naru asked.

"Yes." Mai smirked. "In the cave, when you decided to go crazy and almost kill yourself." She had him there!

"At which point he became spiritually useless," Naru shot back. "Instead of trying to incapacitate me, he just stood there yelling and watching. _You_ were more useful."

"Right, electrocuting myself by touching you was super useful, Naru," Mai muttered.

"It was," he replied softly. "I remembered to focus my energy in tighter, into my hand, to avoid harming anyone behind me."

Mai remembered Naru grasping his wrist, the light of his powers concentrating in his hand. He had done that right after she'd tried to touch him. Mai had no idea that Naru had even been aware she was behind him in the cave; he'd given no indication that he noticed her. Of course, Gene had told her later that summoning and controlling Naru's PK required tremendous concentration. Naru couldn't have spoken to her without losing control.

"Well, good, I guess," Mai mumbled, happy that she'd helped, even by accident. _Wait, that's it_, she thought. "I guess my _impulse_ to reach for you was a good one, then. Good thing I followed it." She grinned broadly.

Most unexpectedly, Naru smiled. Not a smirk, or a fake smile, but his real smile. Mai's heart stuttered.

"A logical point," he noted, meeting Mai's gaze. The discernible warmth in Naru's eyes made Mai's breathing go funny.

"That's three for me, I think," Mai said, embarrassed by the breathiness of her voice. "I should start keeping score."

"You'd only wind up depressing yourself," Naru replied calmly, turning away and rooting through Madoka's supply bag.

Mai threw a pillow at him. He ducked it with infuriating ease and threw an ice pack onto her lap.

"Didn't you want to retrieve one of these for Bou-san?" he reminded her.

"Oops. I was too busy replaying that _apology_ in my head to remember the ice pack," Mai replied with a grin. "Bou-san would probably be happier to hear about that than get an ice pack, anyway..."

-0O0-

AN: Feeling almost better now, but two days late! So here's an extra-long chapter as a combination "I'm sorry" present and Easter present!


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Season two would be on DVD.**

**Chapter 14 – Fog Thick With Blood**

-0O0-

By the time Mai and Naru returned, the others had relocated to base. Takigawa was stretched out on the couch, tired and injured.

"Here you go, Bou-san," Mai chirped as she handed him the towel-covered ice pack.

Her adopted father gingerly placed the pack behind his head, right over the egg-sized lump. Naru wordlessly offered Ayako her doctor's bag, from which she unearthed peroxide and bandages. She nodded in thanks and turned to clean up her fiancé's bleeding arms.

"Alright," Madoka started – before noticing that Mai and Noll no longer appeared to be seconds away from throttling each other. She wondered how they'd managed to make up so fast… Biting her lip to keep from grinning goofily, Madoka envisioned a dimly-lit room, with Noll telling Mai that he's only so protective because he loves her… and the two of them embracing passionately, eventually falling over together onto a bunch of ice packs…

"'Alright' what?" Naru asked flatly. He recognized the dreamy look on his mentor's face; Martin referred to it as Madoka's 'Fairyland' expression. She was off in Fairyland someplace, imagining something ridiculous. Naru had no patience for such nonsense when they had a case to solve.

His mentor came back to Earth, only to regard Naru carefully – as if searching him for something. "Nah," she finally said. "There's no way you move that fast, Noll."

"Excuse me?" Naru asked, his vaunted mind at a loss.

Yasuhara's mind, on the other hand, was similar enough to Madoka's to understand the thoughts behind her words. He snorted. "Keep dreaming, Madoka-san. It's going to be _ages_."

Naru refocused his glare on the glasses-wearing transfer student. Ignoring whatever ridiculousness they were on about, Naru thought back to the last interaction he'd had with Yasuhara. Something about that 'foggy thing' conversation felt… wrong, somehow. He wasn't sure exactly _what_ was wrong about it – and right now he needed to focus on the case at hand. The second ghost had become violent, and SPR's guest exorcist was hurt. They needed to figure this case out and close it before the danger escalated any further. Naru cleared his throat and stared hard at the troublesome twosome. "I'm surprised that you're both in such good spirits, given that one of us in injured and three people have failed to exorcise the spirit."

"Honestly, Noll," Madoka said, rolling her eyes.

"No, he's right," Mai said unthinkingly, staring out into the main room of the warehouse.

She didn't notice the surprised faces of the rest of the team – Mai was openly agreeing with Naru?

"We need to solve this case as soon as possible," Mai continued, sensing the dark presence slowly building beyond the door to base. "The second ghost is already pulling together his strength for another attack. And Jimmy's hiding somewhere; I can sense that he's scared. Too scared to keep us sealed in here… so the door's unlocked now, I think… But I don't want to leave without getting rid of the bad guy."

"So you think it's one of the people who tortured this Jimmy?" Madoka asked, back on task.

"Yes," Mai replied. "It would make the most sense. I mean, I've had two dreams about them. The first ghost is definitely Jimmy, and he's really afraid of the second ghost. That only makes sense if the bad ghost is one of the horrible people who hurt him."

"But one thing _doesn't_ make sense," Naru interrupted. "If those men went to prison, as your most recent dream suggested, then why is Jimmy here?"

"What do you mean, Naru?" Mai asked, eyebrow up.

"Why is Jimmy's spirit still here? I could understand if Jimmy was killed here and remained trapped, or if the people responsible were never brought to justice and Jimmy never found peace. But he _didn't_ die and those people_ were_ punished. So why is he here?"

Mai pursed her lips. Naru had a point. "I'm not sure…" she replied slowly. Then she brightened. "Do you want me to ask him?"

"Can you?" Naru wondered. He knew that Mai could see spirits regularly now, but her skills as a medium had not yet been discussed.

"Not always," she admitted. "I'm much better at talking to spirits in the dream world. But I don't think astral walking is a good idea right now. That other spirit is gathering power out there, and I don't want to wind up caught in the storm. But I know Jimmy's upstairs right now. In the offices. I can try to talk to him – I'll take Lin-san with me!" Mai gave Naru puppy eyes.

Naru had a brief thought about Mai's eyes looking particularly chocolate-colored today – before he jerked his eyes away with alacrity and looked to his mentor. "It's Madoka's decision," he noted shortly.

Madoka's eyes twinkled beneath her raised brows. "That it is, Noll. You feeling alright?"

"Fine," her emotionally constipated former student bit out. "Although I once again find myself questioning Father's decision to make you team leader."

"Yeesh, so defensive. Anyway, yes, Mai-chan. I think that's a good idea. Take Koujo with you and be careful. Stay as far away from the vortex of evil as you can, and try to keep your conversation with Jimmy as quick as possible. No attempts at _jourei_, just talk to him. The priority is the second ghost; we can deal with Jimmy after the main threat is neutralized." Madoka gave Mai a stern look to reinforce her words.

"Yeah, I know," Mai replied. "Jimmy will move on by himself after we get rid of the other ghost."

"You mean the 'fog thing?'" Yasuhara asked with a grin.

"You sound very sure, Mai," Naru noted sharply. He remembered what he'd found strange before. How had Yasuhara even known about the 'fog thing?' Naru was sure that Mai had only told himself and Lin about the 'foggy' aspect of the second ghost, during the interview about her last dream. How could Yasuhara have come up with a nickname for it?

"_Not my words, Dr. Davis."_ Mai's face had blanked out for a second after she'd said that. Naru had jumped on it, of course, but her subsequent collected behavior had thrown him. Mai wasn't usually good at covering for herself. And Yasuhara had answered right away, sounding natural. That wasn't definitive, though – Yasuhara was usually pretty imperturbable and very quick on the draw. Even Naru reluctantly admired his skills.

But – how would Yasuhara have known about the fog? Had Mai actually noticed it before the dream, and said something to Yasuhara privately? _It was possible_, Naru supposed. But if not… then what was Mai trying to hide?

_Hide_. That word replayed over and over in Naru's brain. His irritating twin had been playing hide-and-go-seek with Naru for the entire case. He'd been trying to contact Gene since the first night; he'd even brought a mirror along in case there wasn't one in the warehouse. But other than a couple of brief moments on day two, Naru had not been able to see Gene. Needless to say, he had not been able to get anything useful out of the ghostly medium. Certainly nothing about Mai.

_Mai_… he wanted to know if she was still in contact with Gene. He assumed if she was, she would try to keep it a secret. She had already tried to hide that he was the subject of her repeat dream, after all. If they were still meeting in her dreams (cue annoying gut twist), had Mai been able to meet with Gene on this case? Was _Gene_ the person who'd come up with the foolish nickname? It sounded like something Gene might say. He had never been as exacting with his vocabulary as Naru.

So… if Gene was unavailable for questioning, Naru would need to get it out of Mai. It would have to wait until the case was over, though. It would hardly be fair of Naru to lambast Madoka about focus and then blaze off-path himself.

Naru stared at the camera feed. He watched Mai and Lin creep slowly toward the stairs, edging along the wall. He glanced at the thermal feeds. Mai and Lin were apparently keeping as far as possible from what thermographic imaging revealed to be a strangely hot corner of the room. Heat usually indicated the presence of a poltergeist, but the second presence was definitely a spirit. He studied the area – it was the same corner into which Mai had aimed the camera the night she'd fainted. "The ghost's home location," Naru surmised.

"Yes, I agree," Madoka said from over his shoulder. "Mai likely knows that already, since she's being very careful to keep away."

"Yeah, I'm sure she does," Bou-san groaned from the couch. "Jou-chan probably figured it out ages ago and neglected to tell us. She's better about sharing information now than she was back in the day, but sometimes she still forgets."

"Of course she forgets something important like that," Naru said crossly.

Ayako studied their former boss' tense face. "I wouldn't be too hard on her about it, Naru. If I remember correctly, _you_ had a nasty habit of not telling us about important case information." Naru scowled at the wall, but did not speak again. The shrine maiden smiled with the satisfaction of silencing Oliver Davis. She _loved_ getting one over on him. (Not to mention that Ayako still held a bit of a grudge over the whole Oliver Davis thing. And the two years of radio silence following his departure.)

Naru ground his teeth and ignored Matsuzaki's superior look. He turned back to the monitors and watched Lin and Mai slip through the door to the upstairs offices.

-0O0-

"Jimmy?" Mai whispered. Her eyes locked on the wispy form of the ghost. Silvery eyes met hers. The silver flashed – almost like Jimmy was crying. Mai's expression softened. "Jimmy, we're not going to hurt you. We want to help."

"I know," a thin voice whispered. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Mai asked, surprised. "For what?"

"Trapping you here," Jimmy replied. "I thought you could destroy them. I thought they wouldn't hurt you, since you're not like me. But they did."

"_They_, Jimmy? So it is more than one guy, somehow…" The cherry-red eyes and the terrible voice from Mai's dreams suddenly synced in her head. "The leader of the group is the one inside the fog, right? The voice is the same!"

Jimmy nodded. "He's the man controlling them. He always was. But the rest are still here."

"You mean the other guys who hurt you are here, too?" Mai said this out loud on purpose. She knew that the rest of SPR was listening, and she was pretty sure that no one else could hear Jimmy speaking.

The ghost nodded.

"But where? Is the red-eyed guy all of them at once?" Mai asked. She hadn't sensed anybody else, though…

As if in answer, a roar from the main floor drew everyone's attention. The second ghost was ready for round two. Mai could hear Ayako yell and Bou-san start chanting.

"Come on, Lin-san!" Mai cried, running for the stairs.

They barreled down the steps; Mai felt Lin's _shiki_ moving restlessly around the _onmyouji_. They felt… weaker than normal, though. Maybe they'd been weakened when they'd attacked the ghost earlier? That complicated things.

Mai wanted to make it over to Bou-san, but a huge cloud of fog stood between them. It roiled toward the stairs – Mai stopped short on the second-to-last step, Lin crashing into her back. She tripped forward, imagining all the unpleasant things that could happen to her if her body made contact with the smoke. _At least I don't have 'equipment' to crush_, Mai thought stupidly. She grabbed onto the rail tightly, holding on even as the weight of her falling body wrenched her arm almost out of its socket.

"Are you alright?" Lin asked, hefting Mai back onto her feet. Then the arm supporting her froze. "Noll!" Lin called urgently.

Mai looked up. Naru was standing directly in the path of the advancing smoke.

She and Lin both ran for Naru, Mai raising her arms and Lin whistling. A_ shiki_ rocketed through the smoke and the roiling mass backed off a little. Mai collided with Naru, accidentally pushing him forward a bit. He whipped around, and she had never been so glad to see him glare – Naru was alright!

Suddenly, the fog became darker and Mai felt a wave of anger sweep through the room. A burst of hot wind blew Naru's hair into her face. Mai made a surprised noise and Naru stepped backwards, pushing her further away from the ghost. The unprecedented body contact made Mai gasp, and her scars suddenly burned under her gloves. Needing a distraction, Mai's eyes searched the room and locked on the darkening fog. Deep inside the fog, Mai could see the form of a man again. She froze – cherry-red eyes speared her to the floor.

Then he spoke. "I'll make _mincemeat_ out of you people."

Mai instantly recognized the voice. She had been right. "Naru!" she hissed into his (scar-tinglingly) close ear. "It's the leader! The guy who led the assault on Jimmy!"

Red eyes narrowed on Mai. "And how do you know that?" his awful voice boomed. "I don't remember any pretty little women there that night. I definitely would have noticed those big, scared eyes."

Mai shivered uncontrollably. Naru noticed this and edged her further backwards.

"Oh ho, this drink of water is going to protect you? Fat chance!" A wave went through the fog and all of a sudden, the smoke shot forward.

"It's going for Naru!" Mai cried, guessing that she was the only one who could hear the ghost's words. And she knew the furiously chanting Bou-san couldn't see it.

Lin responded immediately. A _shiki_ whipped down from the ceiling and sliced through the smoke. There was a cry of anger and the fog retreated. The ghost of Leader didn't seem any weaker, though…

"That's what I hate about people like you!" Leader snarled. "Challenging the stronger man… and then depending on others to solve your problems! Weak people like you need to be taught _lessons_." Two streams of fog shot outward, one at Naru, one at Lin. Both were shoved back by (weakening) _shiki_. Mai pursed her lips – the _shiki_ were stopping Leader, but not actually hurting him.

"The smoke is protecting him," Mai murmured to Naru. His eyes followed the smoke backwards and Mai realized with a start that Naru could see the ghost. He _had_ said that he'd seen many spirits before, but it still surprised her. He didn't seem to _hear_ Leader, though.

Her former boss studied the roiling fog around the ghost for a moment, noting the way it curled inward to surround him and keep the _shiki_ from touching him. Like… soldiers protecting a fort. Naru's eyes widened. He'd heard Mai confirm (on camera) that there was more than one bad ghost. "The smoke is made up of other spirits, Mai. Subordinate spirits – likely the workers who helped him do terrible things in life."

Leader snarled at the revelation of his secret and struck out at Naru. The fog jutted out again, and another _shiki_ dove through it. This time, though, Mai saw a grey hand briefly emerge from the cloud of smoke. A grey hand that was not attached to Leader's body. Naru was right! The waves of_ something _preceding attacks_… _they were_ commands_. Mai realized the waves must signify Leader's orders to the fog, to his servants.

The ghost let out an inarticulate yell of rage at his peon's continued failure and started venting anew. "Still depending on others to save you!" Leader roared mockingly at Naru.

Mai clenched her fist. "Big words coming from someone who had four other people doing his dirty work!" she yelled recklessly.

Everybody stopped moving; Bou-san stopped chanting.

The young psychic locked hard eyes with Leader, refusing to show fear. "They were the ones who held your victims down and beat them into submission! You just stood there and turned the crank!" Undoubtedly the most evil job, but that wasn't Mai's point.

And the point struck home. The foggy mass actually stopped moving for a moment – and a little of it burned off! Mai pressed her advantage. "Even now, you depend on them! You tell your little lemmings to throw themselves into harm's way and save _you!_ How _weak_ is that?"

The eyes swung to Mai again – she felt like she'd been zapped by hot lightning. Leader yelled something incoherent and Mai felt him give the order to attack – but nothing happened. She stepped away from Naru (who allowed it, but stayed ahead of her) and continued speaking. "They're the ones taking the pain, and for what? So they can continue to be enslaved to you? Ready to do your horrible commands forever?"

The fog was dissipating faster now – Mai saw two ghostly figures break away entirely and fade away. Leader snarled again, lashing out angrily at his remaining servants. Which was stupid… because it only made another one leave. Mai figured there was only one now, remembering the original number in the group. She whispered to Naru, "One left." She saw him signal something to Lin and Bou-san.

Leader growled above her, a thoroughly inhuman sound. "Clever girl," he admitted. "But I'm sure I can take out your interfering little friend with just _one left_."

As an imperial arm ordered the smoky servant forward to attack Naru, Mai thought of what Hardhat had said in her dream – that Gallway should go up and sit with the receptionists.

Because the bad guys wouldn't do anything in front of girls.

As the smoke-encased servant launched forward, Mai stepped deliberately in front of Naru and stared directly at the smoky protuberance. She held her breath and her ground as danger pelted toward her. She felt Naru try to get around her, but Mai pushed hard against him to keep him back. She needed him to stay behind her…

The fog stopped inches from her chest. Mai felt a blast of heat slam into her, pushing her backwards into Naru. Her clothes tore a bit and she could distinctly smell singed hair. Her scars were burning, too, but Mai couldn't tell if that was because of the ghost or renewed bodily contact with Naru. She could feel him trying to get back around her. But her othersense could feel the indecision of the last ghostly servant. The fog hung in the air, unmoving.

"Naru! Stop! It stopped!" Lin called. Apparently Naru was so busy trying to get in front of Mai that he didn't notice the standoff. He stopped moving immediately, but Mai felt him put a hand on her hip. Naru must be planning to push her to the side if anything went south.

But Mai needed to show him that she could do it. _She_ would save _him_ for a change. It was very important that she prove herself to him… since Naru would eventually need to trust her with his life.

So Mai squared her shoulders and faced Leader's remaining attacker. "You don't owe this man anything. He used you in life and he's using you now. There is nothing for you here – except eternal pain and servitude. You guys did a lot of bad things to people – you want to make hurting girls part of your legacy, too?"

The fog started to dissipate and Mai exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

"Attack! Attack her, you lowlife! What good is a toothless dog?" The sounds of Leader's taunts rang in the cavernous space. _Apparently Leader wanted to seal his own fate_, Mai thought, shaking her head in disgust.

At the word 'dog,' the grey figure in the smoke turned away from Mai. The smoke uncurled from Leader and retracted toward the servant. "Do your own dirty work, then," a new voice hissed. "That's a _girl_, there – and she's right…"

Leader, devoid of protection but still looking plenty dangerous, lunged forward to attack his former slave. But the servant ghost (obviously more used to attacking people) scored a hit instead. A ghostly grey hand went through Leader's blackened body. A scream ripped through the room and Leader fell to his knees. Mai could feel the repugnance in the servant's aura. "Scum," the grey figure hissed as he faded away.

Mai saw the servant disappear out of the corner of her eye and was about to say something when Naru called out from beside her. "Now!"

Lin whistled and Bou-san yelled out a chant. Three _shiki_ ripped through Leader and Bou-san finished with a shout. With a horrible shriek that rivaled the ones he'd forced out of others, Leader vanished.

Mai felt the whole place lighten, her soul instantly more at ease. She blew out a relieved breath – and noticed the singed tips of her hair. "Oh, great," she muttered.

"You needed a haircut, anyway," Yasuhara said flippantly.

Mai glared – and shivered. The heat from the fog had been so intense that she felt really cold now. She rubbed her suddenly chilly arms and shivered again. Naru made a noise beside her, and Mai looked up into appraising dark blue eyes.

"You should know to wear a jacket in a haunted building," he noted condescendingly.

Mai's mouth dropped open. "I save you from the ghost and _that's_ what you say?"

"Ah, Mai-chan, you misunderstand our emotionally stunted Noll." Madoka's voice came from the base doorway, camera in hand. She'd been taping everything for the professor – Martin had really wanted to see Mai in action, and the standing cameras were so close to the exorcised presence that they had probably stopped working. She grinned at a glowering Naru before locking eyes with Mai. "Noll's really saying that he considers you a competent investigator… and therefore it doesn't compute that you wouldn't be prepared for sudden temperature changes."

"Was that what you got out of that?" Naru asked coldly. "Your creativity never ceases to amaze me, Madoka."

"Your lack of civility never ceases to amaze me, Noll," his mentor shot back. "You could, oh I don't know, _thank_ Mai-chan. She did _throw herself in front of you_, after all. And managed to get rid of the other ghosts in the process."

Naru glared mutinously, attempting to hide his internal disquiet. Mai _had_ wanted him to see her in action, and he _had_ agreed… but he hadn't imagined it would involve Mai's risking herself to protect him. Oliver Davis could protect himself… or he used to be able to. Naru gritted his teeth in frustration – he _hated_ not being able to use his powers. But his defense was Lin's unfortunate burden, not Mai's. Naru didn't want her getting hurt on his behalf.

He did know that Mai had pulled a smart move, though – using the servants' reluctance to hit women against them. Mai had dreamed about the snitch, Gallway, hiding with the women while waiting for the cops; she had to have gotten her idea from that.

So Madoka was right – Mai_ had_ become a competent investigator. And she helped a lot on this case, re-telling highly informative dreams and actually leading the exorcism. Naru studied Mai silently and saw her shiver again. Without another word, Naru pulled off his black jacket, dropped it on Mai's shoulders, and walked back to base.

Mai gawked at Naru's retreating back for a moment before turning confused eyes on Madoka.

Madoka gave Mai a grin and a thumbs-up. "And that's how Noll says thank you!"

-0O0-

Moments later, Mai felt a non-threatening presence and turned to meet Jimmy's silvery gaze. He was… wispier than normal. _Crossing over_, Mai realized.

"Thank you," Jimmy said feelingly.

"You're very welcome," Mai replied, smiling softly. Then she remembered Naru's questions. "But tell me something, Jimmy… why were you here in the first place? You didn't die here, and Leader went to prison for hurting you."

"We found out that, er, _Leader_ and some of his followers were killed in a prison fight," Lin added, staring at the blank space he imagined Jimmy's spirit inhabited. He couldn't see this ghost; it wasn't very strong. "The ultimate punishment, one might say. So what tied him here?"

Jimmy regarded the _onmyouji_ for a moment before answering. "I never really got over the… incident. That had something to do with it, but… Years afterward, I read in a paper that production in this warehouse shut down because employees suffered strange injuries. When I died, I couldn't… leave. I felt… bound to return, to help."

"He knew they were back and hurting people. He wanted to help," Mai told Lin. Her head spun with a sudden vision of a live Jimmy interfering between Leader and another worker. "Like he did in life," she said with certainty, eyes returning to Jimmy's. "That's why Leader wanted revenge on you in the first place, right? You reported him and he wanted revenge."

Jimmy smiled a sad smile. "At least I was helpful then. I haven't done much good since. We were both men then, but… his ghost was so much stronger. The bunch of them only became more frightening in death. And then I trapped you all here…"

"Don't worry about it," Mai reassured him. "We're all fine. You're a good man, Jimmy." Her voice became very calm. (Lin reckoned it sounded eerily like Masako's). "Go now, and find peace. I'm sure that people are waiting for you… and you've waited here long enough."

Jimmy smiled as he started to fade. "Give your own protecting spirit my thanks," he said.

A short bark of laughter escaped Mai. Apparently Jimmy had seen Gene the other night. She was thankful to be the only one who could hear the ghost. "I will," she replied, returning Jimmy's smile. His smile and the silver of his eyes were the last things to disappear.

-0O0-

A week later, most of their merry band was relaxing in the Davis' sitting room. Martin had been beyond thrilled at the footage of Mai's ghost hunting prowess and had watched the tapes at least five times each.

They were suffering through replays again today. Mai watched herself on camera – the Mai onscreen closed her eyes and told Bou-san not to threaten the presence. The teen psychic groaned internally, fervently desiring to be with Madoka and Luella. They had abandoned her for a walk outside.

She grinned a bit, remembering. Martin had only just turned the TV on when Luella declared that she was thoroughly sick of the tapes. Listening to Mai recount horrible dreams on camera and watching her only remaining son attacked by a ghost was (unsurprisingly) not Luella's idea of a nice day. Mai had wanted to go, too, but Martin and Naru wanted her to describe the difference between auras of live people and ghosts. So instead, Mai watched with longing eyes as Luella and Madoka waved goodbye.

The tape suddenly skipped from their first encounter with Jimmy to footage of the warehouse shot with the standing cameras. Apparently Lin had decided that losing a few minutes of psychic-powers-in-action was worth avoiding Naru's reaction to the entirety of the _equipment_ conversation. Mai coughed and Yasuhara snickered.

"Looks like the camera _went off too early_," Yasuhara noted, shaking his head.

"Don't even start," Mai said severely. They were not continuing the ridiculousness in front of their _professor_.

"Such a spoilsport, Mai-chan."

"Perhaps the second presence overwhelmed the circuitry," Martin mused, unaware of Yasuhara's true meaning. "The first ghost was relatively weak, you'd said, but the ringleader was certainly powerful enough to take out the equipment."

"Not at that point," Mai disagreed. "Leader only wanted to observe us – he wasn't in violent mode yet. I've noticed over the years that cameras seem to hold out pretty well until it's attack time."

Suddenly, Madoka burst into the room, Luella close behind her. That meant it was almost dinnertime. _Thank goodness_, Mai thought. She loved the paranormal, but it was definitely time for a _break_. And neither Martin nor Naru understood the meaning of the word.

"Today is Bastille Day!" Madoka crowed as she breezed into a chair.

Everyone exchanged glances. Mai and Bou-san raised quizzical eyebrows, while Naru and Lin sported identical long-suffering expressions.

"What?" Yasuhara finally asked.

"Today is the day that the poor prisoners of the Bastille prison in Paris were freed – by an angry mob of revolutionaries!" Madoka replied gaily.

"This happened today?" Mai asked, confused. "Shouldn't that have been on the news?" They had watched the BBC afternoon report in between interrogation sessions.

"It happened in 1789, _baka_," Naru answered peevishly. He had reverted to calling Mai an idiot in Japanese – for whatever reason, his mother didn't reprimand him as often. It also seemed to cause a satisfying increase in Mai's level of irritation with him.

"Oh," she said, coloring. Laughter broke out, and Naru smirked. Mai's eyes narrowed.

Hoping to stop the inevitable argument before it started, Madoka launched into a history lesson on the French Revolution and the symbolic history of the Bastille, which was apparently liberated on the fourteenth of July in 1789.

But Mai was only half-listening. _Today was July fourteenth_. She had been so busy with after-case stuff (and Professor Davis' summer prep reading) that she had completely lost track of the date. Tomorrow was the fifteenth of July. Mai pressed her lips together and looked fixedly at the television, tears stinging her eyes. She was an adult, she wouldn't cry in front of everyone.

Unfortunately, her strange behavior did not go unnoticed.

"Mai dear, what's wrong?" Luella asked solicitously.

The teen psychic looked up, face blank and eyes sad. She seemed to snap out of something – and realized that the whole group was waiting for her response. Mai forced a smile onto her face and tried to look sheepish instead of depressed. "N-nothing, Luella! I was just thinking that I have a lot of work to do this weekend." Then she remembered that the professor who had assigned all of the work was in the room. "Not that I'm complaining!" Mai backtracked. "Um… I should probably get started on that, so I'll be upstairs in my…in the guest room." She fled, tripping over the coffee table in her haste.

Bou-san exchanged a confused glance with Martin. "She's going to start reading right before dinner? That's weird."

"Not to mention she didn't take her books with her," Yasuhara added, pointing towards the front hall, where Mai's black messenger bag sat against a chair.

Ayako sighed quietly. All eyes turned to her.

"Well," Mai's almost-adopted mother said, "The _Obon_ festival is going on in Tokyo."

"_Oh_," the rest of the Japanese contingent replied.

Martin and Luella looked oblivious. Lin sighed. Naru stared silently at a wall sconce.

"_Obon_ is a Japanese festival celebrated in Tokyo around July fifteenth," Bou-san explained in his 'enlightening monk' tone. "I guess you could equate it to the old version of Halloween for Westerners. _Obon_ is a time to remember and celebrate your ancestors. Their spirits can return to Earth during the festival, and special food is made to welcome them. It's also a city-wide party, complete with dances and carnival rides, games, and lots of eating. Lots of people dress up in _kimono_… and many visit cemeteries, or prepare offerings for their departed loved ones."

Luella looked down at this, thinking of Gene.

"But there is something else," Ayako said. "Every year, Mai goes to the suburb of Tokyo where she was born and participates in the _Toro Nagashi_."

"What's that?" Martin asked interestedly.

"It's the official end of the festival," Bou-san replied. "It means 'the floating of the lanterns.' You're supposed to make a paper boat. Then you write the name of the person or people you are honoring on the boat in calligraphy. Finally, you put a candle in the boat to make it a lantern. At night, people float the lanterns down a river to symbolize the return of those spirits to the world of the dead. It's very beautiful."

"And Mai makes a boat for her parents every year," Ayako informed them. "She takes the train to the prefecture she lived in as a child, and brings the lantern to a river near the house she was born in." Ayako smiled softly. "She just started letting us go with her last year. We visited the graves of her parents while we were there."

The room was quiet as everyone figured out what was troubling Mai.

-0O0-

AN: Okay, so first case over! I feel like I need work on writing scary stuff Anyway, how can everybody make Mai feel better? Find out next week!


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Ghost hunting babies would be on the way.****  
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**Chapter 15 – Lights in the Night, Times Two**

-0O0-

Naru's gaze drifted to the stairs, his eyes stopping on the spot where Mai had disappeared from view. As Luella (sounding rather emotional) asked Bou-san about the kind of paper the lantern-boats were made with, Naru silently left the table and headed for the front hall. Hefting Mai's bag onto his shoulder, he slipped quietly up the front stairway. Naru tried to tell himself he was doing this because Mai had recently saved him from a malicious ghost. And that did have something to do with it. But mostly, it was because he _understood_. Oliver Davis knew grief too well, and the thought of the sunny Mai alone and depressed didn't sit right with him.

Wanting a better idea of what he was heading into, Naru fingered the strap of Mai's bag and called upon his psychometry. Mai was in 'her' guest room, looking out the window and crying. Her emotions were roiling; sadness, grief, guilt, and longing all churned around inside her. Naru sighed and walked down the hall, pausing only a moment before entering the room.

Mai whipped around, eyes popping wide at the sight of him. She hastily wiped her face and tried to smile. "Um, hey, Naru. What's up?"

Naru gave her an incredulous glance and set her bag on the bed.

"Oh, right, my books." Mai rushed over and grabbed one of her parapsychology textbooks. "I don't know what I was thinking." Her hands shook slightly.

"_Daijoubu?_" Naru asked softly.

Mai's head came up. He'd asked her if she was alright. The same question he'd asked right after Mai had woken up from her death vision in Urado's mansion. She smiled a bit – a real smile. "_Hai_," she whispered back.

Naru pulled something else out of her bag – a copy of the paper that she and Yasu had sent with their transfer application. "I suspect I should read this," he noted off-handedly. "Martin has read it at least ten times. And since I have applied to be the investigator in charge of your study and training at SPR, I must familiarize myself with the development of your powers. But I needed a cleaner copy – my father's is so marked up, it's barely legible anymore." He settled into a cushioned chair next to the guest bed.

Mai just stared at him.

"Shouldn't you be reading as well?" Naru intoned leadingly.

Mai's mouth opened to speak, but nothing came out. She dropped onto the bed, book in hand. She continued to stare at Naru – who was now ignoring her, eyes moving rapidly over the paper in his hands.

A wide smile broke out across Mai's face; Naru was comforting her, in his own way. He'd never been one for heart-to-heart conversations, but he _had_ come up here. He knew that she was upset, asked if she was okay, and was going to keep her company. Mai practically bounced up the bed towards her emotionally-challenged love interest. She snuggled herself against the pillows and cracked open the thick parapsychology book, a grin on her face and happiness in her heart.

She didn't see Naru's eyes slide in her direction, processing her change of mood and watching her mouth the English words she was reading.

By the time Mai stole another glance, she had also missed a brief, tiny smile on Naru's face.

-0O0-

Predictably, Mai fell asleep about an hour later. Still sitting up, book open on her lap. Naru regarded her intently, a problem nagging at him. The _Toro Nagashi_ took place on the fifteenth, Takigawa had said – and though Mai seemed alright now, she'd be worse tomorrow. Naru was not the type to leave problems half-solved. Not to mention – there was no way that Luella Davis was going to let this go without doing something special for Mai. Not after the birthday fiasco.

Mai's birthday had been July third. SPR's first visit to the warehouse had been scheduled for July fifth, and so July third was swept up in the run-up to the case. Mai herself hadn't noticed the date. Naru sighed heavily, his memory replaying the scene…

_The entire group (even Luella) was sitting at the kitchen table, looking over paperwork and discussing strategy, when Ayako suddenly slapped a hand to her forehead. Everyone stopped talking, wondering if the shrine maiden had found something in the file she was reading. Instead, Ayako turned horrified eyes on her future adopted daughter and apologized profusely for forgetting that it was Mai's nineteenth birthday. _

_Mai gawped for a moment – before laughing. "Oh, yeah," she said casually. "I was so caught up in the case that I forgot about my birthday… reckon I'm turning into a workaholic?"_

The present-day Mai fidgeted in her sleep and Naru gritted his teeth. He _wanted_ to have that problem – yet no matter how hard he tried, no one seemed to forget his and Gene's birthday. Perhaps if he wrangled up a particularly interesting case, Martin would forget this year.

But Luella wouldn't…

"_What do you mean, you forgot about your birthday?" Luella asked Mai, eyes wide. "It's your BIRTHDAY."_

"_Oops," Mai replied, shrugging sheepishly. Blanching at the uncomprehending stare on Luella's face, Mai hurried to explain. "It's not that big a deal, Luella, I mean… I don't really do big birthdays."_

"_A cultural difference?" Martin asked interestedly._

"_Ah, no, it's…" Mai's eyes changed, her gaze distant. "After my father died, my mom had to work a lot to keep us, you know, okay money-wise. So she had to work on my birthday a couple of times. It was okay, I mean, she worked all of her own birthdays. And she didn't really have time to put together parties… but I had no other living relatives, so there weren't a lot of people to invite." Mai shrugged again, as nonchalant now as she'd been the day she informed SPR that she was an orphan. _

_Then she noticed Luella's still-troubled gaze and backtracked. "After I started junior high school, though, my friends made sure to come over and do presents. And after my mom died, they took me out every year. Oh! One year, I went on a summer vacation with my friend Keiko-chan for my birthday!" Mai threw a high-beam smile at Naru's adopted mother, trying to dispel the gloomy mood. "For the last couple of years, Ayako and Bou-san have insisted on throwing me a birthday party. But…" Mai shot the distressed-looking shrine maiden a look. "They shouldn't worry about today! I forgot, too, you know." _

"_We've got your presents back at the apartment," a remorseful Bou-san told Mai. "We bought them ages ago. And it IS a big deal, Mai. I can't believe…"_

"_Bou-san." Mai's voice was steely. "It's okay. I'm not upset, so how about we stop guilt tripping already? If it makes you guys feel better, we can do cake and presents tomorrow. But for now, let's finish going over the plan and call it a night. It's getting late."_

"_We can still go out," Yasuhara suggested. "There's a bar a couple of blocks away that does music every night. You like dancing."_

"_Yasu, I am not spending the last few hours of my birthday watching you hit on girls," Mai said firmly, rolling her eyes. "Besides, tomorrow is Testing Day. I need to be well-rested if we're going to get numbers anywhere near as good as last week's."_

_Her research partner sighed. "Fine, Mai-chan. Be a party pooper. You're no fun sometimes."_

"_It's called being responsible, Yasu. You should try it." Mai reached for a pink folder full of pictures of the warehouse._

Naru would normally have made a comment about Mai's insistence that she was responsible – he had many examples that suggested otherwise, after all. But Naru had felt oddly restless throughout the entire conversation. He barely acknowledged September nineteenth himself, but others still offered him presents and well-wishes every year. Before Gene had died (and Naru had started actively avoiding any form of celebration), their adopted parents had _always_ thrown them a birthday party.

It seemed… out of joint… that the happy, giving Mai was historically gipped on her birthday. It was also quite sobering that she didn't seem to care. Especially considering that she made a big deal out of most holidays – even religious ones that the Japanese didn't really celebrate, like Christmas. Mai had to want more than belated cake and presents for her birthday.

A moment later, Naru rolled his eyes at his own ridiculous thoughts. He was irritatingly fixated on the emotional welfare of his former assistant. _This is what comes of listening to Madoka's nonsense about Mai 'saving me,'_ he groused internally. Mai _did_ take responsibility for his safety during the exorcism, and _had_ managed to protect him from harm… so now Naru was overcompensating for that by concerning himself with Mai's feelings. Surely, he'd already paid Mai back by coming up here tonight. Naru could honorably retreat into his comfort zone.

However… Naru also knew that Mai's belated birthday cake at the house (following testing) had_ certainly_ not satisfied Luella. His mother was definitely going to plan something for tomorrow. Which was likely going to entangle him in more maudlin displays of emotion.

Perhaps… Naru should come up with something himself. Yes, a _reasonable_ _alternative_ to whatever crazy plan the combination of characters downstairs would cook up. He studied Mai's peaceful form and searched his mind for an acceptable plan of action.

_It should be something intrinsically valuable_, he reckoned. The _Toro Nagashi_ obviously meant a lot to the usually blasé-about-being-an-orphan Mai. Naru narrowed his eyes on Mai's sleeping face. She was upset about not being in Japan, that she wouldn't be able to float a lantern in the river near her childhood home. She couldn't just up and go to Japan tomorrow, obviously. Mai's surrogate parents _and_ best friend were here in England, so they couldn't do it for her…

But there were others who could.

Naru eased out of the armchair, pulling his cell phone from his pocket. He scrolled down his contacts until he came to the name he was looking for. Fingering the call button, Naru considered. He hadn't spoken to _her_ in two years, and given her history of interest in him… Perhaps he should request that Yasuhara handle the telephone calls. It would have to be tonight… there wasn't a lot of time to organize. It was already the fifteenth in Tokyo. Naru swiftly exited the guest room.

-0O0-

"Oh, there you are, Noll!" Madoka called as Naru strode back into the kitchen. "You were gone for a _while_."

Her grin was surely meant to get his back up. Therefore, Naru ignored her completely and speared her compatriot-in-evil with steady blue eyes. "Yasuhara, I require your assistance."

"What's up, Big Boss?"

"I need you to call Miss Hara or Father Brown," he said shortly.

"For what?" Yasuhara asked curiously, the edge of a grin in his voice.

_He and Madoka fed off of each other_, Naru realized grimly. He needed to get Lin on that. But a quick glance in his Chinese assistant's direction revealed that Lin was _amused_. As was the smirking Matsuzaki. Naru gritted his teeth and used the voice he usually saved for particularly dense clients. "Mai is upset because she cannot be in Japan tomorrow for the _Toro Nagashi_. This situation can be at least partially remedied – Miss Hara and Father Brown _are_ in Japan. I believe that you can convince them to assist you."

"Assist _me_?" Yasuhara repeated, eyes twinkling. "Don't you mean assist _you_?"

Naru was afforded a momentary reprieve as Martin, Luella, and Bou-san entered the room, all looking excited and holding some papers. Martin noticed him first. "Listen, Noll, we obviously have to do something about tomorrow, and I think we've got it."

Naru stared in shock. His _father_ was the parent taking point on this?

"Your father has an idea for tomorrow!" Luella burst out. "We're going to the Japan Society in the morning, to pick up lantern-making supplies! We'll make lanterns ourselves, and then float them in the backyard pond tomorrow night! Won't that be lovely?" Her eyes were practically sparkling.

Naru sighed, somewhat deflated. "Yes, Mother." They would obviously be doing that instead. Though relieved he wouldn't have to endure the teasing that would come with revealing his plan, Naru couldn't help feeling a twinge of disappointment that his idea would go to waste.

"But Noll," Madoka spoke up. "You've obviously thought of something, too. There's no reason that we can't do both."

"Both?" Naru repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Wouldn't that be overkill?"

"Of course not!" his mentor replied brightly. "Besides, I think I know what you're thinking – and it's a great idea. So _thoughtful_ of you, Noll." She smiled cunningly.

He glared in return. "I knew that Mother would want to do something, after the birthday episode," he replied evenly. Madoka's disbelieving stare told Naru he needed to do better. He remembered his self-examination upstairs. "_You_ were so insistent that Mai _saved me_ last week. You weren't… entirely incorrect, so I imagine I must return the favor."

Madoka wasn't fooled. Her prize pupil wanted to make Mai feel better and couldn't deal. She _almost_ called him on it… but seeing as Noll was maturing enough to show he cared (albeit in a backwards, covered-up kind of way), Madoka would humor him and let him make up whatever explanation he wanted to. They needed to get this show on the road, anyway. "How… reciprocal of you, Noll. I think Mai will really _love_ your idea." (She heard Ayako and Yasu laugh quietly.) "And I have a way to make it even better." Madoka waggled her cell phone in Noll's face, pointing to the video icon.

Naru looked torn between interest and annoyance. "Overkill?" he suggested again.

"Not at all," Luella negated firmly. "Doing both will only make her day more special, so of course we should go for it."

Martin nodded in agreement, handing Noll a printed-out flier about the Japan Society's _Obon_ celebration.

Unwilling to fight both of his parents, Oliver just nodded smartly and turned to Yasuhara.

-0O0-

The next day, Ayako dragged a listless Mai out of bed. Though Naru's unexpected bout of comforting adorableness had been wonderful, Mai still felt pretty awful about not being in Tokyo for _Obon_. She elected to stay in bed as long as possible, and then spend the day holed up in her room with prep reading.

But her mother figure was having none of it – Mai was forcibly extricated from her blankets and thrown into the shower. By four o'clock, the depressed teen was pouting in a taxi on the way to the Davis mansion, sandwiched between Bou-san and Ayako. Yasuhara had apparently gone out and was meeting them there.

"You had better liven up by the time we get there," Ayako hissed.

Mai just glared balefully back.

"There _might_ be a surprise today," Ayako hinted. No response from Mai. "You should be in a better mood, anyway – didn't Naru sit with you last night? One would think you'd be happy about that."

"I_ am_ happy about that," Mai growled. Realizing her tone and her words were totally out of sync, her sour mood snapped and she laughed. "Alright, fine, I'll behave," Mai promised, still giggling. "I'm just, you know…" Her eyes turned sad again.

"We know," Bou-san replied consolingly, relieved that the tension had broken. "But we can't fly back to Japan for everything."

"I know," Mai said forlornly. The taxi pulled up to the Davis mansion, and Mai managed to smile for Luella as they walked up the drive. Mrs. Davis looked rather cheerful…

"We've a bit of a project today, Mai dear," Luella gushed as they entered the house. "And we're just about ready for you."

Mai gave her a puzzled look. Naru's adopted mother simply wrapped an arm around Mai's shoulders and steered her down the hallway.

Upon reaching the kitchen, Mai stopped dead. There were several sheets of YUPO paper, pieces of wire, bamboo sheets, votive candles, glue, and calligraphy brushes spread out on the table. Madoka was painting flowers onto a sheet of golden-tinted paper, and Martin was trying to glue the paper into shape on one of the bamboo bases.

Mai pressed her lips together, trying very hard not to cry. A lump rose in her throat and she couldn't speak.

"Hmm," Luella said softly, "It seems Martin is having trouble with the paper."

Mai laughed, a short explosion of emotion. She sat down next to Professor Davis, grabbing a base and some paper with shaky hands. "Like this," she choked out, folding the YUPO paper into fourths and gluing along an edge. "You don't have to do it all at once. You glue the paper together first, then leave it until it's dry. Then you glue it to the bamboo."

The professor was uncomfortable with emotions, Mai knew, so she was glad they were working with their hands and avoiding the topic of Mai's obvious tears. Ayako sat down on her other side and grabbed her own base. Mai figured that Ayako would be making a lantern for her grandfather.

Lin, Naru and Yasuhara entered the room just as Mai had about finished helping Martin with his paper folding. Knowing her eyes were still watery, she avoided looking up. Instead, she selected a calligraphy brush and dipped it into the nearby ink well.

"What design are you going to make?" Luella asked interestedly.

Mai smiled. "Bluebells and daffodils," she replied softly, "In Japan, bluebells stand for gratefulness. I am grateful to my parents, for having me and for raising me. I also deeply respect them, which is what the daffodils infer."

"That's lovely," Luella replied, equally softly. "Should I do that too? Use flowers?"

Mai found the courage to look at Luella. "It's what a lot of people do," she replied. "Plus, in western culture you use flowers at funerals, right? The flower-painting is similar – the flowers you pick honor the dead."

"Because they are returning to the world of the dead, yes?" Martin asked beside her.

"Right," Mai agreed, nodding. "They come back to earth at the beginning of the festival and leave at the end. The lantern floating is supposed to represent that."

"Such a short time," Luella said very softly, staring at the golden paper in front of her.

Mai knew that Luella wasn't just talking about the festival. Gene had only been sixteen when he'd been hit by the car. A silence fell over the kitchen.

"Yes," the teen psychic said, jumping bravely into the breach. They were doing this wonderful thing for her; the least Mai could do was try to help Luella feel better. "But the message of the festival isn't really sad. It's supposed to remind you that the dead never really leave us."

Across the room, Naru's eyes snapped to Mai.

"They are always there – sometimes they're just closer than other times." Mai smiled and painted another daffodil on her YUPO paper.

Closer, she'd said. _Sometimes Gene was closer than other times_, Naru thought to himself, picturing the mirror upstairs. A powerful feeling spread through him, and Naru could see that his adopted mother felt similarly. Luella surveyed Mai with warm eyes before returning to her blank paper.

Then she pursed her lips, obviously considering what to put on the lantern. Naru wordlessly handed Luella a printout of Japanese flower meanings. He'd anticipated this issue and researched lantern-making before helping Lin and Yasuhara with the video editing.

Luella caught her son's hand as he tried to turn away (a.k.a. flee the emotional moment). "Thank you, Noll," she said quietly. She knew that Oliver wouldn't want to make a boat of his own, but he had contributed in his own way. Noll nodded and turned to a laptop on the table. _Probably checking over the finished product_, Luella figured. The laptop contained the second surprise for Mai – a surprise that her staunchly undemonstrative son had engineered. Luella bit her lip to keep the grin off her face. Noll might be confused as to _why_ he felt it necessary to plan something for Mai – but he _did_ plan something! _Progress_, Madoka had whispered with relish. Luella agreed.

So Mai would receive two surprises in one day – which Luella found entirely appropriate, given that everyone had _forgotten_ Mai's _birthday_. This was still quite inconceivable to Luella; birthdays were important. Luella even got yearly hand-squeezes from the uncomfortable-with-physical-affection Oliver Davis. Her gaze drifted to Mai, wondering how long it would take for Noll to offer Mai a sign of physical affection. Given that Noll did not plan on telling Mai that Surprise Two was his idea (he insisted that Madoka take credit), it might be a while.

Luella sighed and looked over Mai's lantern. Mai had left two whole sides empty, between her painted flowers. She was now writing careful Japanese characters down the golden paper.

"You have neater calligraphy than I'd have thought, jou-chan," Takigawa joked.

Mai stuck her tongue out at her adopted father. "My mother taught me that neater writing infers a greater degree of respect," she replied primly. "So I make sure to write as neatly as possible."

Takigawa grinned. "Is that why my name is always written so sloppily on my birthday cards? Lack of respect?"

The teen psychic rolled her eyes. "No, that's because you're really impatient! You whine about wanting to open your presents, so I wind up writing the card as quickly as possible." Mai was happy to hear the smattering of laughter at the table – the somber mood was officially lifted.

After finishing her calligraphy, Mai carefully glued the paper to her lantern base. She leaned across the table to grab a waiting candle, and glued the small candle onto the bamboo. Finally, Mai glued the paper a bit more securely and looped a wire through the top to form a handle. She placed her paper lantern on the table, gaging the finished product with an experienced eye.

"Yours looks much nicer than any of ours, Taniyama," Martin observed. Mai took in the line of paper lanterns with a giggle. Hers _was_ definitely the best – clean lines and precise construction. Martin's was still a bit lopsided – and his painting left much to be desired. Luella's was pretty good, but the glue was sticking out on the sides. Madoka's was better still, but the top was kind of… wrong, somehow. Ayako's was painted prettily, but the lantern's construction was pretty awful. Bou-san's was probably the best, after Mai's. Lin and Yasuhara had both built theirs very well, but the designs were really plain. Naru hadn't built one and was fiddling with a laptop at the end of the table. _At least he wasn't sulking_, Mai told herself.

"How did you get it so the glue didn't ooze out?" Luella asked, turning Mai's around on the table.

"Lots of practice," Mai replied flippantly. Luella's eyes saddened, but before the table could get all sad again, Mai reached for another base.

"What do you need another one for?" Yasuhara asked curiously.

Mai froze. "Um, I don't," she replied quickly. "I guess I forgot that I put both of my parents on one boat." She busied herself with cleaning up the mess on the table.

Yasuhara looked confused, but Ayako and Takigawa exchanged a knowing glance.

Down the table, Lin considered for a moment. Taniyama-san had just said she'd had lots of experience making _Obon_ lanterns, so why would she suddenly forget something like that? _She wouldn't_, he decided. So she had been about to make a lantern for someone else. And Yasuhara didn't know who, but her guardians did… because they had gone with her to float lanterns last year. Hm.

The _onmyouji_ watched as Mai's eyes slid tellingly to Luella's lantern, pausing at the name written in careful English cursive on the paper. _Eugene Davis_. Ah. Mai had made a lantern for Gene last year. She really was a kind person.

Lin's gaze flicked to Naru, who had also been scrutinizing Mai – Naru was also staring at his mother's lantern. No doubt Naru had also figured out who the other lantern would have been for. Lin hoped the young man took Mai's caring gesture to heart. Maybe it would help Naru figure out how Mai felt about him.

"It won't be dark for a while yet," Martin noted. "We figured we'd float the lanterns across the pond in the backyard."

Mai smiled widely. "That sounds great!"

"Since we've got a few hours, we should eat." Luella stood. "I think we should go out for dinner tonight, especially as we've been taking up the kitchen all day. There's a lovely Italian restaurant I think you'll really like, Ayako." The shrine maiden/doctor's eyes lit eagerly.

"We'll leave in a bit, darling," Martin agreed. "But Oliver, Lin, and Madoka – I need to go over some SPR business with you all before we go."

Naru handed the laptop he'd been fiddling with to Takigawa and followed Martin to the study. Bou-san took it with a smile and motioned to Mai. She drifted over, happy to get away from Luella's and Ayako's discussion of some kind of pasta dish. Yasuhara wandered over with her.

"Here you go, Mai," Takigawa said, thrusting the laptop at her. She gave him a confused look. "Yasuhara, Lin, Madoka, and Naru made you a present."

"Huh?" Mai was lost.

"It was really Big Boss's idea," Yasuhara added. "But don't tell him I told you that."

"You should probably go upstairs and watch it, so you don't have an audience." Takigawa shoved Mai toward the back stairs. She gave both men another confused glance, but eventually climbed the stairs and carried the open laptop into her guest room.

-0O0-

The teen psychic sat on the bed, smiling as she remembered Naru's coming here to sit with her last night. And apparently, he had concocted a _present_ for her? Mai eagerly touched a button on the laptop, curious and excited. A video popped up on the screen. The opening shot was of… a very familiar place in Japan.

Mai hit the play icon, feeling suddenly short of breath. She watched as the camera panned over the neighborhood where she had been born. It was sunset, she noticed. The camera was jostled rhythmically – the camera-holder was walking.

"Maybe you should be holding this, Masako-san," John's voice said in Japanese. "You walk much more gracefully than I do."

"I don't think a camera goes very well with my ensemble," Masako's prim voice answered. A kimono sleeve fluttered into the video. It was extra-fancy – festival wear. "I would much prefer to carry the lantern."

Mai's sight had become so blurred with tears that she missed the next few seconds of the video. Hastily, she wiped her eyes and watched as the river came into view. The camera's movement stopped right around where Mai always stood for the _Toro Nagashi_. She could see lots of people meandering at the water's edge, many in kimono. All of a sudden, the camera panned sideways, and Masako Hara stood elegantly on the riverbank, gazing into the camera. She held a golden lantern in her hands.

"John-san, would you please hand me the match?"

John's hand appeared, and Masako took the proffered match and held it inside the lantern for a moment. The paper lantern blazed gold, and Mai took a moment to appreciate the craftsmanship. It was lovely; the very-traditional Masako probably made it. Then she noticed the beautiful calligraphy, spelling out the names of both of Mai's parents. Mai didn't bother wiping her tears away any more. She just let them roll down her face as she watched.

There was a lurch as John attached the camera to a tripod, and then Mai could see both John and Masako as they took the lantern and placed it on the shore of the river. Mai saw lovely flowers painted on the lantern – daffodils for respect. She giggled through tears as Masako stood daintily by while John braved the shallows of the river, getting his pants wet as he pushed the lantern out into the deeper water. He returned to Masako's side, and both of them bowed deeply as the lantern joined the many others on the darkening water. John turned back around and waved at the camera.

"Hello, Mai-chan!" he called gaily. "I know you're sad that you couldn't be here tonight, so we came for you!"

"Yes," Masako added, a trace of tenderness in her voice. "I hope you feel that we've honored your parents well." Her tone became slightly pouty as she said, "You're lucky to have Naru care about you so much."

Mai laughed aloud at this; Masako still felt jealous, huh? Well, it wasn't what she thought – Mai knew better than to think Naru saw her in a romantic light.

John picked up the camera again, zooming in on the lantern as it floated down the river with the others. Mai watched it rock slowly, the light flickering on the waves below. She cried again, listening to the murmurs of the Japanese crowd and feeling homesick. After a while, John and Masako appeared in the video again, almost invisible in the dark.

"We miss you, Mai-chan," John said softly. "We hope you're doing well in London, and we know you'll do well at Cambridge."

"We'll see you soon," Masako added, smiling as she bowed. "We'll come to visit."

John moved behind the camera again, and the image winked out.

Mai made sure to move the laptop away from her body before she totally broke down, crying like a baby. She had wonderful friends. A wonderful _family_, she corrected herself.

A knock sounded at the door – and Ayako and Bou-san walked in. Without a word, they hugged Mai to them. The three of them sat there together until Mai stopped crying.

Ayako smoothed her almost-daughter's hair and kissed her forehead. "I take it you liked it?"

Mai sniffled, nodding vigorously. "_Naru_ thought of that?"

"Yeah, him and Madoka," Takigawa said with a grin. "Who would've thought? He's pretending it was all Madoka – the video part was her idea, but having John and Masako do the lantern was Naru. Yasuhara called Masako last night and asked her to make the lantern, and she and John went to your old neighborhood this morning, London-time. Then Yasuhara, Martin, and Luella went to London's Japan Society pick up supplies for our lanterns. The Society runs its own festival today, but we figured that you'd want to keep it private this time. Anyway, Lin uploaded and edited the video, and Naru looked over it to 'make sure there weren't any errors.'" Bou-san affected a Naru-voice.

Mai giggled. Suddenly filled with energy, she bolted off the bed. "We're supposed to be going to dinner, right?"

"We were waiting until you were ready," Ayako replied. "Besides, the professor wanted to go over something with his SPR regulars."

"Well, I'm ready now," Mai replied, checking her face in the mirror. A little puffy, but passable. "I don't want to keep anybody waiting." Without another word, she booked downstairs, searching for the architects of her surprise. Mai saw Yasu first and launched herself at him, hugged her best friend tightly. As she released him, Mai feelingly murmured, "_Thank _you."

"You're welcome, Mai-chan," he replied, grinning warmly. Then he gestured to the study door and winked. Mai winked back and snuck across the hall.

She peeked into the study. Martin was heading out the other door with Madoka. Perfect. She could easily grab Madoka later, but Lin and Naru were another story.

Mai used all of her (rare) stealthiness to slink over to Lin – and hugged the _onmyouji_ before he knew what hit him. "Thank you, Lin-san," she said softly, smiling into his shocked face. His eyes softened slightly, and he nodded. Mai let Lin go and he hurried away. Mai turned to her last victim.

Naru was putting some papers away on the other side of the room, ignoring her presence. Maybe he was afraid of being hugged? Mai grinned at Naru's back, knowing she was about to discommode him in the extreme. It was his idea… so he should get something _special_.

Before she could lose her nerve, Mai bit her lip and came up alongside Naru. Quick as a flash, she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. He jumped as if shot and Mai giggled into his widened blue eyes. "Thank you, Naru," she whispered sincerely.

He looked lost for a moment before recovering himself, narrowing his eyes and opening his mouth. "What are you thanking me for? It was Mado-"

"I know it was your idea, too, so don't deny it," Mai cut him off. "And now… I guess I should run for it, before you say something annoying and ruin the moment." And she took off, for once managing not to trip over anything.

-0O0-

AN: Thank you so much to **anon** for telling me about the Japan Society in London! I hope you guys liked this chapter; this one and the next one make me feel all warm inside. I did look up _Obon_ and lantern-making on the Internet, but I'm sorry if I got anything wrong. I think it sounds like a beautiful festival, and when I finally get to Japan, I hope I get to participate in the festival myself:)


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Volume 12 would be out in English.**

**Chapter 16 – Small Stones Signifying the Start of an Avalanche**

-0O0-

Mai barely noticed the food set in front of her… since she was mentally replaying the thank-you kiss for the hundredth time. Mai's only regret was that she hadn't given herself enough time to memorize the feel of Naru's cheek against her lips.

She certainly didn't regret causing Naru's entertaining reaction. Dr. Oliver Davis was obviously off his game. He'd barely said ten words all night, and just looked so… _bewildered._ Mai finally lost the battle with her better angels and grinned knowingly at her former boss. Naru's eyes narrowed to blue slits, but he still didn't speak. Maybe he'd be this docile for the rest of the night…

Across the table, Naru wrenched himself out of his funk. His thoughts were still in total disarray; he was no closer to unraveling the chaos than he'd been an hour ago. But he'd need time and quiet for that – which he simply wouldn't get tonight. Besides… Mai's wide smile grew wider and_ smugger_ by the minute. He couldn't allow that to continue. So Naru forcefully shoved his confusion to the back burner and focused on pulling Mai off her high horse.

He didn't want to outright enrage Mai, though – Naru had gone through the trouble of making this day meaningful for her, after all. If Mai wound up sulking through tonight's lantern-floating, everyone's efforts would have been for nothing. _A bit of embarrassment would do, then. _And he knew just what to do. Naru glanced down the table. When he was absolutely sure that no one else was watching, Oliver Davis threw a curious Mai his most devastating smile.

Mai raised an eyebrow as Naru left off glaring at her to look down the table. Was he just going to ignore her for the rest of the – _wha-what?_ All of a sudden, Naru was _smiling_ _charmingly_ at her. Her breath caught in her throat, even as she firmly told herself Naru must be screwing with her.

Or… was he? Those dark blue eyes weren't cold like they'd been in the past… Naru blinked slowly, and Mai's heart jumped. _Even his eyelashes were beautiful_, she thought tenderly. Then she realized he was staring at her. Mai stared back, hopelessly transfixed. In seconds, her entire world had narrowed to Naru's sapphire gaze. His eyes were so _deep_… she wondered what he could find so fascinating about hers. His lips were moving now… Mai struggled to focus…

"I said, 'Mai, can you pass the bread?'"

She shook her head as if trying to clear her ears. Naru smirked vengefully.

Ugh, he _was_ screwing with her! She'd kissed his cheek, so he was being fake-romantic to get back at her! Mai practically threw the basket of bread at him. "Jerk," she whispered fiercely. Naru merely dipped the bread into his olive oil with poorly masked relish. Mai decided to take her annoyance out on her dinner, pausing every so often to glare at the obviously back-to-normal Naru.

Naru watched a now-pouty Mai stab away at her ravioli. "Still keeping score, Mai? I believe that's another one for me." He watched the teen psychic press her lips together hard, obviously trying to keep from yelling in a fancy restaurant. Oddly, this action brought to mind the warm feel of Mai's lips pressing against his cheek. A strange thrill suddenly swept through Naru, and he looked around. Maybe there was a weak spirit in here or something.

-0O0-

As dessert menus appeared, Naru knew that he needed to bring Angry Mai back around to happy-mode before they left the restaurant. Luella and (astonishingly) Martin were quite excited about tonight, and Mai strangling Naru during the lantern ceremony would probably put a damper on their enthusiasm.

He saw Mai gaze longingly at the after-dinner selection and came up with a solution. Mai didn't usually order dessert; her frugal nature countermanded her love of sweets. This evening was no exception – Mai handed off the dessert menu without requesting anything. Naru rather respected her self-denial.

But however more mature Mai had become, Naru suspected that her reaction to sweet things was as childish as ever. "I'll take a tartufo," Naru told the waiter quietly. He figured Mai would like it – frozen fruit wrapped in ice cream and chocolate, right up her alley. Luckily, his father and Ayako were loudly discussing lantern-floating logistics and no one noticed that he ordered something.

When the plate of gelatinous sugar arrived, Naru immediately pushed it over to Mai. "Here," he said shortly.

Mai looked at him as if he'd grown an extra head. "But I didn't order any –"

"Just eat it, Mai," Naru commanded, sipping tea and staring out into the dining room.

She tilted her head, confused. "Did…_ you_ order this?"

"Yes. For you." Realizing that his peace offering could be misconstrued as an affectionate gesture, Naru quickly elaborated. "This whole night is supposed to be for you; I'm sure my mother would be offended if you skipped dessert." There, now Mai would cooperate without making a scene.

Mai stared at Naru for another moment before picking up the dessert spoon. He looked resolutely out the window. A warm feeling spread through her as she dug gingerly into the ice cream. An explosion of flavors hit her tongue and Mai managed an appreciative noise before attacking the fruity-chocolatey-creamy ball of goodness with gusto.

_Mission accomplished_, Naru thought, watching the obviously delighted Mai out of the corner of his eye.

Down the table, Lin nudged Naru's gawping mentor. "I told you, Madoka... leave him alone and he'll manage quite fine. Noll behaves much better when he thinks no one is paying attention."

Madoka shook her head in awe. "Unbelievable." She watched Noll and Mai take turns covertly observing one another. "Reckon if we all just leave the table for a while, they'll start making out?"

-0O0-

Mai gazed into the darkness, listening to the soft sounds of water splashing against rocks. There was a portable porch lamp just behind her, so Mai could barely make out mini-waves on the pond's choppy surface. She held her lantern tightly in her hands, thinking back to the video. John and Masako and the river, the lantern bearing her parents' names bobbing along in the twilight.

All of a sudden, Professor Davis was at her side. "Alright, Taniyama. I think we're ready."

Mai nodded jerkily and walked to the water's edge. "Everyone over here," she instructed. "We'll put them in on this side, since the wind is blowing the water away from us. The lanterns should be pulled across." As everyone formed a line at the edge of the pond, Mai's eyes watered and her throat tightened. They were doing this for her. She cleared her throat and willed her voice to be steady.

Naru couldn't see Mai's face very well, but he could hear the emotion in her voice. He felt an unnatural compulsion to go to her side and… he didn't know what. He shook his head to clear it, feeling like he was fielding more emotions today than he had in years_. This is why I avoid these situations_, he mused. Mai was lighting her lantern now. The little candle's flame blazed gold before softening to a flicker, and for a moment Naru could see Mai's face clearly. Her eyes sparkled with tears, but she looked… quietly happy.

He watched Mai give the barbeque lighter to Martin, who lit his and Luella's lanterns before passing it along. Gene's full name was black against the golden paper of Luella's lantern, and Naru's gut tightened. As Takigawa and Matsuzaki entered into a brief struggle over the proffered lighter, Naru sidled over to join his adopted mother, taking a side of the lantern bearing his twin's name. Luella gripped her remaining son's hand tightly.

Mai smiled softly. _Naru's going to take part, after all_. Then she felt eyes on her and looked up to meet Naru's gaze. Again they stared at one another for what seemed like forever, but she didn't feel like he was teasing her this time. Like that time – weeks ago – in the guest room, Mai felt like there was some kind of force field holding them together. Some deep-seated emotion burned in Naru's gaze, and Mai felt the almost overwhelming urge to cross the distance and take hold of him. She had actually taken a step towards him… when Martin called her. Mai snapped out of her… trance? … and answered. "I'm sorry, Professor Davis, what was that?"

Luella could have hit Martin. Noll and Mai were obviously having a moment! And Luella reckoned that the emotional moment had been on the verge of becoming a physical moment – Mai had been about to do _something_. And then her idiot husband had to ruin it! Beside her, Noll looked dazed (a rare look for her son) before turning to glare at the water as if it were responsible for his confusion. Luella heard a male groan and looked down the line to find Yasuhara's eyes. He shook his head exasperatedly, sharing her sentiments. Luella grinned back.

"Mother, we're starting," Naru said shortly.

"Sorry, dear." Luella turned to Mai, who was… going into the water?

"Here, like this," Mai said, stepping out of her shoes and into the pond. The rocks were slippery underneath her bare feet and Mai moved very slowly so as not to fall. "Then you just…" She looked up to see everyone staring at her like she was crazy. "What?"

"Why are you in the water?" Martin asked curiously.

"Well, that's how you do it," Mai replied. "You need to be in the water so you can push the lantern out into the river current."

"But we're not at a river, Mai-chan," Madoka noted amusedly.

"Right, but… we still need to be out far enough to push them properly," Mai argued. "If you stand up there and push, they'll just come back to the edge." She gestured to her glowing lantern, which bobbed obstinately against the rocks lining the pond. Then she took stock of Luella's lovely long dress and stockings. "Well… everybody doesn't have to go in. I'm already in, so I can do them all. So just, um, set your lantern in the water and I'll push them out deeper, okay?"

"Roger that, Mai-chan!" Yasuhara was wearing his best slacks; he couldn't get them all muddy. He _could_ just take them off – but he figured Mai might yell, and Ayako would definitely slap him. So Yasuhara set his lantern (with Sakauchi's name written on it) into the water and held it in place, waiting for Mai.

She sloshed over, holding the ends of her dress above her knees with one hand and holding out the other for balance. She made a face as she came to a halt in front of Yasuhara.

"What?" her friend asked, grinning at Mai's look of disgust.

"The rocks are really slimy," she answered. "I usually wear crappy sandals to go in the water."

Yasu and Madoka both laughed. Madoka handed her lantern down as well, and Mai pushed both out towards the middle of the pond. She did the same with Bou-san's, then Ayako's.

Lin pursed his lips and stared down at his lantern, feeling torn. He was wearing nice dress slacks and did not want to get them wet. But he felt sort of honor-bound to help Mai. She shouldn't have to do this all by herself, especially since this whole ceremony was for her.

"Lin-san?" Mai held out her hands. Did he think she would drop it or something?

"It's all right, Koujo," Madoka said loudly. "By the time you could get in the water, Mai will be done. You're just making her stand there longer."

Lin glared at his girlfriend and quickly handed his lantern off to Mai. He tried not to look at her suddenly beaming face.

"Thank you for thinking of me, Lin-san!" He couldn't help but smile a bit at Mai's huge grin. It took so little to make her happy. He wondered if that was because she had lived alone as a teenager. _Perhaps she learned to appreciate every bit of kindness_, Lin thought as he watched Mai gently push the lantern bearing his grandmother's name into deeper water.

_Or maybe_, Lin considered,_ it's because she loves Noll, who only shows open kindness in bits_. He saw Oliver's eyes follow Mai's movements back towards his family. Lin could tell that Noll was worried about Mai falling into the water – but anyone who didn't know him very well would just see a man looking dispassionately at a woman. Lin also knew that if Mai did fall, Noll would be in the water in a flash to help her… while looking extremely annoyed and calling her an idiot. _Noll could use a few lessons on showing open kindness, at least to Mai_, Lin thought. Even he himself smiled overtly at Madoka.

Mai pushed Martin's glimmering lantern out toward the middle and turned to Luella.

"Here you are, Mai dear." Luella and Naru knelt down together and set the lantern on the water. It bobbed gently as Mai waded over.

The teen psychic paused for a moment as she read over the name written in flowing cursive. _Eugene Davis_. She turned her head to hide teary eyes and very gently pushed the lantern out to join the others.

Her own lantern, with the names of her parents written in _kanji_, bobbed alone beside her. She had childishly left it for last, not wanting to send it out to sit there by itself. Mai dragged it forward now, ignoring the squish of the algae under her feet. She smiled to herself as she pushed it forward and watched its progress across the pond. It met up with Gene's lantern and the two memorials slid across the sparkling water. Mai watched them until they bumped into Ayako's.

She remembered doing this last year – setting two lanterns into the water. She had pushed one off, then the other, and watched both lanterns float along, two little lights, until they joined up with the throng in the middle of the river. The lanterns bearing the names of Mai's parents and Naru's brother became part of the great light of the _Toro Nagashi_, and Mai had felt the little relief that she suspected was common amongst the bereaved. _ At least they are not alone; they are with others in heaven_.

She must have said this out loud, because Luella's breath hitched behind her. Mai turned around in a flash. "_I'm sorry, that's just what I think when I_…" She stopped, belatedly realizing that she was speaking Japanese. She had been talking to herself at first, really, so it was only natural.

"_No, dear, you're right_," Mrs. Davis said, eyes glistening in the dim light of the lanterns. "_That's part of what the festival is about_, _yes_?"

Mai had forgotten that Luella could speak Japanese. "_Yes,_" Mai affirmed, smiling softly. "_You're very right_." Realizing she was still standing in the water, Mai waded slowly back to the edge of the pond. She turned in place, searching for a good spot to climb out – and her face almost collided with Naru's hand.

Naru couldn't even summon the aplomb to say something like, 'Hurry up, idiot.' Hearing Mai's words about heaven, listening to her speak Japanese, and witnessing her exchange with his adopted mother had overloaded Naru's circuits and he was feeling very… peaceful. No Mai-baiting right now. So Naru was silent as she finally put her hand in his, and he actually sent Mai a grateful look with his eyes as he helped her out of the pond.

Madoka squeezed Lin's hand as they watched.

"Look at that," Lin whispered in amazement. _Open kindness_.

-0O0-

Ayako broke the moment on purpose, knowing that Naru would probably ruin it himself if he noticed everyone watching him with Mai. She tutted loudly. "Houshou, your lantern keeps bumping into mine!" Everyone turned to her, just as she'd hoped.

Down the line of people, Naru and Mai stood unobserved and still hand-in-hand. Naru felt oddly like holding on to Mai's hand – and so dropped it immediately. He still felt tingles where she'd been touching him. He frowned in confusion – had she gripped his hand so tightly she'd cut off circulation? A voice inside him (which sounded like Gene's) whispered that he was missing something.

"Thank you, Naru," Mai said softly, blushing. She slid her feet in the grass, both to dry them and to give her something else to do besides blush embarrassingly.

Naru gazed at her, feeling quite out of sorts. He was usually amused by Mai's fascination with his good looks, but now he was found it mysteriously distracting and couldn't even smirk. _This is why I avoid these situations_, he reiterated to himself.

Ayako's shrill voice echoed in the yard, returning both of them to the outside world. "Look, there it goes again!"

"Of course my lantern's bumping yours!" Bou-san responded loudly. "It's pushing yours along! Your lantern moves all slow 'cause it was made by an old maid like you!"

_Whack_.

"Ow, I guess you still hit pretty hard for an oldie."

"You scruffy (_whack_) fake (_whack_) monk (_thump_)!"

"Guess I'll go break that up," Mai sighed, leaving a strangely quiet Naru to his thoughts. She promptly threw her body between Bou-san and Ayako, narrowly missing being clocked in the head by Ayako's ever-present purse.

"Oh no, Mai!" her almost-adopted mother apologized, wrapping Mai in a hug. Bou-san immediately decided he was jealous and hugged Mai, too. Between the two of them, Mai thought she might suffocate – but she endured it for the sake of maintaining the peace.

"Hey, look!" Madoka called (as a rescue attempt).

The huggers released Mai (who took a deep, grateful breath) and turned to the pond. The lanterns had all met in the middle and were swirling together in the water. Mai smiled softly at the familiar golden lights, and past festivals played out in her head.

She thought about the times she and her mother had done this together, holding hands as they watched the lantern they'd made for Mai's father sail off into the night. She remembered going with her teacher the year her mother had died; Mai had been unable to face the _Toro Nagashi_ alone. The year after that, her teacher had been called away for a family emergency. Mai had moved out on her own by that point, and she decided that if she could live alone, she could handle the festival alone, too. Those had been a lonely couple of years.

Then last year, Bou-san and Ayako had gone with her. Bou-san had been declared Mai's official guardian and Ayako was already his fiancée. They had let Mai make the lantern on her own, but insisted on accompanying her to the river. Mai had also taken them to see the house she'd been raised in, and eventually to the nearby cemetery. Mai had been happy to introduce her parents to her adopted family, privately whispering to her parents' gravestones that Ayako and Bou-san were wonderful and took good care of her.

At sunset, Ayako and Bou-san stood on the shore while Mai waded into the river shallows with her parents' lantern. Bou-san had eventually joined her with his and Ayako's own lanterns (like Masako, Ayako refused to get wet). Bou-san dragged Mai back to shore, and her adopted parents stood on either side of her and held her hands as they watched the golden lights. Mai had cried happy tears – she had a family again.

And this year… all of her SPR family – Japanese and British – were celebrating with her. A lantern for Mai's parents had floated down the river in Japan and now another Taniyama memorial slipped along the water in the Davis' pond. Everyone stood together, friends and family, tied together in a knot by love and care. Mai could practically see the bonds in the air around them, connecting the group by the water.

She watched the lights swirl in the pond for a little longer, smiling and crying simultaneously. Eventually, she felt Ayako shiver next to her. It _was_ kind of chilly out. "Okay," Mai tried to say. Her voice came out thick and deep. Stupid crying. Clearing her throat, she started again. "Okay, guys, it's getting cold. Somebody blow out the lanterns and we'll go inside."

"I'll do it," Yasuhara volunteered. He sprinted around the pond and knelt down to extinguish the lanterns, all of which had finally made it to the other side.

Mai didn't want to see the lights go out, so she turned to the group and spoke again. "I'll make some tea and then it's sleepytime. You guys have a case tomorrow." Yasuhara came back and they all set off for the house.

Naru watched Mai walk inside, Bou-san and Ayako holding her hands. It wasn't something he'd ever want – his parents treating him like a child – but it looked right for Mai. And not because she was childish (although she certainly had her moments), but because he knew she craved that sense of family and closeness.

And here Oliver shook his head at the distressing emotional flavor of his thoughts. _Enough_,he thought. Thank goodness he had case research to do. It was past time to get his mind off of_ feelings_.

-0O0-

SPR's case was over two days later – far too simple for Naru's tastes. They hadn't even needed help from their Japanese visitors – which meant that Naru couldn't even gather evidence concerning Mai's possible collusion with Gene. His twin had only appeared for a few minutes during the case, and had been mysteriously deaf to any queries Naru made in reference to Mai. Obviously, Naru was going to have crack Mai if he wanted answers. He surreptitiously studied her over his research… and his eyes widened. Mai was twitching noticeably in her chair, drawing the attention of almost everyone in the room.

A twist went through Naru's gut as he took in her alarmingly blank expression. Mai's eyes stared out into space, and her hands shook. She jerked once more... and then life came back into her eyes. Naru watched closely as Mai shook her head like a dog trying to clear water from its ears. Instead of addressing the obvious psychic flare-up, however, Mai curled further into her chair and opened the book she'd borrowed from Martin's SPR office. Naru opened his mouth to say something – but Ayako beat him to it.

"Guess you're sleeping on your own tonight, Houshou," the shrine maiden-slash-doctor noted, concerned eyes on Mai.

"Looks like it," Bou-san agreed. "You want a blanket, jou-chan?"

"No, I'm fine," Mai replied tightly, refusing to look up from her book.

But Naru noticed that her eyes weren't moving over the page. "Your hands are shaking and you aren't actually reading," he accused.

His words did the trick; Mai slammed the book into her lap and glared. "I'm _fine_, Naru. It's just my vision warning. But since I _know_ you won't shut up until I tell you… it means that I'm going to have my usual death vision tonight. I get... flashes of the dream, and I feel kinda cold. But it's normal."

"_Normal_, she says," Bou-san muttered. Mai threw him a dirty look.

"Once we figured out that the flashes meant that the vision was imminent, it's been much easier to handle," Ayako told a worried-looking Luella. "When she gets the warning, I sleep with Mai. Since the vision starts with Mai's whole body jerking rather violently, I wake up right away."

It actually started with Mai's frozen and terrified form watching car headlights come barreling towards her, but no one needed to know that. Suddenly, she heard the screech of the wheels in her mind and the world went dark – Mai shook herself and snapped out of it. Thinking about it only made the flashes worse.

Ayako was still talking. "That way, we can wake her up quickly – it's less traumatizing for Mai."

And it was. Gene was still dead, and re-living any part of the scene still rocked Mai to the core, but the less time spent in the vision the less time she spent sobbing. The physical ramifications were also less unpleasant – Ayako almost always managed to wake her up before the choking, so Mai rarely threw up imaginary lake water anymore.

Unexpectedly, something warm was thrown over Mai's legs and a warm hand caressed her face. Luella Davis tucked a quilt around her with one hand and held her cheek with the other. "Well, it still sounds dreadful," Naru's mother commiserated. "Surely there's something we can do – something SPR can do."

_Surely there's something we can do_. Mai chuckled ironically. She had said the same words to Gene, a long time ago. That was how she'd wound up in this mess in the first place. "It's not necessary," she replied. "It's going away slowly – I just have to ride it out."

This statement intrigued Naru. He knew that the dream was coming less frequently; both Mai and Bou-san had said so. But… _why_ was it coming less frequently? Naru had originally postulated that the hold of the vision was fading because Mai's connection to Gene was fading. But now he strongly suspected that Mai and Gene remained in contact... so wouldn't the period of time between vision recurrences shorten?

Naru's fingers tightened around his pen. Mai's sureness about the vision was yet another signal that Gene was still appearing to her. She sounded like she understood what was happening perfectly – which indicated that she was receiving educated help. Mai's intuition was excellent (not that he'd tell her so), but she often couldn't explain why she felt so strongly about things. And despite her training, she was still rather hesitant about whatever she guessed. But she seemed completely sure about this.

"Hmph," Luella sniffed. "What is the use of parapsychology if it can't help a girl stop her bad dreams? Maybe you and I should have a chat and see if regular psychology can't be of service."

Mai threw a wild look at Naru. She couldn't talk to Luella about visions of Gene's death! _Save me_, she cried out silently.

Across the room, Yasuhara noted with interest that Mai turned to Naru to help her instead of asking himself (like she usually did).

"They aren't just _bad dreams_, Mother," Naru interjected calmly. "They are paranormal visions. I highly doubt dream therapy would do anything to help the situation. In fact, I think that talking about them would only lead to an increase in occurrences. Just from observing Mai over the past few minutes, I've noticed that the flashes seem to get stronger and more numerous when she actively thinks about the vision."

Mai stared at Naru, wide-eyed. He was right, of course... and he'd figured all that out by watching her for a few minutes. _Damn_, but he was good. How was she supposed to keep Gene's secrets from him... or her own? Belatedly, Mai remembered that she should be grateful to Naru for rescuing her and gave him a weak smile.

Luella sighed in defeat and caressed Mai's cheek again. "Well, I most definitely don't want to make it _worse_. I'll have to let you and Noll figure it out, I suppose." Mai blushed softly at this statement and Luella smiled warmly. "But in the meantime, Mai dear… why not use a mother's cure for such things? I know you're usually a tea girl, but how about some nice hot chocolate? I make mine special, you see."

Mai couldn't help but smile brightly in return. "That does sound nice," she agreed.

"Then you just sit tight and read that book on…" Luella glanced at the cover and groaned. "On whatever paranormal nonsense Martin wants to drill into your head." Mai giggled and snuggled into the soft blanket. Naru's mother exited the room as Martin, Lin and Madoka entered it – and from the look on Martin's face, Luella had thrown her husband a nasty glare on her way out.

Mai snorted with laughter at Luella's attitude towards the paranormal. It had to bother Naru – and anything that bothered Naru, usually delighted Mai. After a moment, she calmed down enough to follow Luella's directive and returned to her book. "Corporeal Transference," she muttered the title to herself. "Definitely the scariest of my abilities."

"And yet considered an extremely enviable skill," Martin said, eyes sharp over the edge of his evening paper. "Most psychics I know would be quite jealous that you are capable of corporeal transference."

"They can freaking have it," Mai replied firmly. "First-person death dreams _suck_. I've been killed in more ways than I realized were possible."

"Hmm, I can't imagine it's something you get used to," Madoka cut in sympathetically.

Naru's pen paused over his notes, suddenly laden with a vision of his own. He remembered Madoka telling him the same thing, back when they'd first been introduced. Years ago, Martin had brought a young Madoka Mori home for supper one night. He'd been talking about her _every day_ since classes had started at Cambridge – his brand-new, amazing, bubbly, brilliant student. Luella had finally requested that Martin just bring her to dinner so that they could meet this remarkable person. When they'd met Madoka, Martin was still conducting preliminary testing on their psychic gifts… and at that dinner, his adopted father had excitedly told Madoka that he, Oliver, was able to perform psychometry…

"_Really?" she squealed. "That's amazing!"_

_Martin nodded proudly._

_Almost affronted by their glee, Noll noted that he didn't particularly enjoy the talent. _

"_But seeing into someone's life must be very interesting," Madoka insisted._

_Noll had stared out the window for a full minute before replying. "Seeing the deaths of others is not something I look forward to," he said quietly._

_Suddenly, Madoka's whole manner changed – like she'd never imagined the possibility that psychometry could cause death visions. But of course she knew that, as Martin's student. Her gleeful face became serious and sad. "I'm sorry," she said. "It's one thing to read about such abilities… but it must be entirely another to deal with them in real life, huh?"_

_Noll didn't know what to make of this sympathetic question. He was used to people telling him he was crazy, or weird, or even something strange to be studied. Luella and Martin (Luella especially) showed him great care and kindness, but Noll categorized that as 'parental affection,' something he'd heard a great deal about at the orphanage. It was to be expected, apparently. But this was a complete stranger, showing him care and understanding. _

_Finally, Noll nodded. "It can be… distressing," he told Madoka, not used to talking about his feelings. Gene usually picked up on Noll's feelings through their psychic bond and did the talking for him._ _He could tell that Madoka knew he was deliberately understating the horror and anguish that came with death visions. _

"_I can't imagine it's something you get used to," she almost whispered._

The present-day Naru identified this moment as the foundation of his reluctant respect and affection for Madoka Mori. She was certainly the only SPR employee who Naru would permit to teach him anything, and the only one (other than Martin) whose orders he'd follow...

"_But psychometry is useful," Noll continued. He did not want to come off like a wimp. "I helped Mar – Father on a case a couple of weeks ago."_

"_Did you?" Madoka asked, a hint of a smile on her face. _

"_Yes. I touched a diary and figured out where the spirit had hidden the bodies of the people he'd killed."_

"_Yes, you touched a KILLER'S diary, which you should never have had access to in the first place," Luella seethed, iron in her voice. "One more mishap like that, Martin, and you won't be taking my children anywhere near SPR again."_

They'd stopped telling her about 'mishaps' after that.

Mai's voice pulled Naru out of the past. "It's better than it used to be. The first time it happened, I thought I was really being killed. After a while, I learned to pull myself away a little. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I know that I'm just seeing someone else's death. That realization gets me through it. It still _feels_ real, and it's still really scary…" she shivered involuntarily. "But I'm better at handling it now. Besides, it's almost always useful for the case."

"_But psychometry is useful."_ The words of Naru's younger self rang in his head.

"Hmm, I remember someone saying something like that once," Madoka noted, grinning slyly. "Who was it again?"

Maybe 'affection' was overstating it. Naru certainly wasn't feeling affection for Madoka right now. He glared savagely at his mentor.

"Oh, right, it was _you_, Noll," Madoka continued, slapping her forehead as if she'd really forgotten. "We were talking about death visions, and you argued that they were useful... even if they were really scary."

"I believe I said they could be _distressing_," Naru replied through his teeth. "I don't remember ever saying anything about being sca–"

"Interesting that you both used the same words." His unsurprisingly evil mentor smiled brightly as she cut him off.

Naru opened his mouth to retaliate – and was completely derailed by Mai's sudden huge smile.

"It's nice to know you feel that way, too," she told him sincerely. "Sometimes I feel stupid for thinking the visions feel real."

A pause. "They feel real because they were real to the ghost," Naru said slowly. Mai's obvious delight rendered Naru reluctant to shoot her down the way he normally would.

"Yeah, I know," she chirped. "But if _you_ feel that way, it _has_ to be acceptable, right?"

An annoying warmth filled Naru at these words. Feeling every eye in the room watching him, Naru plucked another file from his stack of research and avoided looking at Mai. "If you think so," he managed to reply (in a decent counterfeit of his normal tone).

Luella reappeared with a tray of hot chocolate, serving Mai first. The girl took a mug eagerly and gulped it down. Naru watched out of the corner of his eye. _She liked the hot chocolate_, he observed. Mai grinned at him and he raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Sometimes I forget you have a soul, Naru," she said cheerfully, sipping her drink with relish.

Madoka almost snorted her hot chocolate up her nose. Lin and Martin coughed, Yasuhara and Bou-san buried their faces in their arms, Ayako smiled into her cup, and Luella laughed gaily. Naru glared blue lasers into Madoka (whose fault this all was) before turning to lambast Mai.

But as Mai happily snuggled into the blanket, Naru realized that she hadn't had any visible dream-warnings in the last few minutes. Since he most assuredly wanted to avoid Mai having flashes of Gene's death, he decided not to start a fight. "Nice to know you hold my perceived humanity in such _high regard_, Mai," Naru said finally, a hint of his usual smirk on his face.

Mai clucked her tongue. "Narcissist," she muttered, cheeks flaming.

"_Perceived_ humanity?" Yasuhara repeated. "Is that your way of telling us you _were_ grown in a lab, Big Boss?"

-0O0-

AN: Lol, this chapter took forever. I've been trying to make it make sense since Friday. Thank you to Ariana Taniyama for being awesome.


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. I was just watching the anime and wanting to watch season two, which there would be if I owned it...  
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**Chapter 17 – Lessons and Schemes**

-0O0-

"Leave it _alone_," Lin intoned to the meddlers.

"But Noll is acting so… _unusual!_" Madoka argued plaintively. "We have to push a little! He's almost there!"

"Don't get too excited," Yasuhara whispered. "He's _not_ almost there – Big Boss is definitely still in denial. And besides, Mai-chan's too scared to push anything."

"We could just shove their heads together and see what happens," Ayako whispered. She and Bou-san were going home soon, and she didn't want to miss anything important. The three immediately started talking logistics.

_Do none of them listen?_ Lin wondered, rolling his eyes. The troublemakers were so busy strategizing that none of them noticed Naru get up and leave the room. Lin glanced at the vacated desk and raised an eyebrow – the report Naru had been writing was unfinished. _How unlike Noll to leave something half-done…_ His musings were interrupted as Ayako and Madoka shushed each other noisily (still unaware that the subject of their scheming was gone). Lin decided not to tell them – perhaps Naru would get enough time alone to work out whatever was disturbing his mind.

-0O0-

Naru stood in his bedroom, eyes on his mirror and mind moving a mile a minute. Their English celebration of _Obon_ had been three weeks ago. Three whole weeks… and Naru's mind had yet to settle. Just when he was (almost) used to having Mai and most of the Japanese SPR around, his proverbial boat was set rocking again. Naru found himself consistently fending off multiple emotions, most notably confusion (a sentiment he did not enjoy in the slightest). Of course, Naru did not enjoy being overmastered by _any_ emotion – especially when it was noticeable to others. Madoka, Yasuhara, and his mother had been giving him _looks_ lately.

At least Mai had left off teasing him, Naru mused. He'd gotten revenge and brought things back to even keel - though only on the outside. Naru knew that Mai felt like she'd got one over on him – and she _had. _Perhaps not in the way she thought, though...

When Mai had swept down and kissed his cheek, several feelings had accosted Naru almost simultaneously. The first was shock – at Mai's increased boldness. She _was_ a rather touchy-feely girl, but surely the metaphorical 'Do Not Approach' barriers he'd erected as a child remained noticeably in place. Mai had certainly respected them before that night (except in emergency situations, but even Naru counted emergencies as acceptable grounds for physical contact).

The real shock, however, was that she'd picked the exact method Gene had always used to get a rise out of his twin. And the surprise had been compounded by a powerful wave of nostalgia. When Mai had thanked Naru a second later, he almost expected to hear Gene's voice coming out of her mouth. He'd had to mentally replay her words twice just to come up with a response.

Naru knew Mai had no idea that Gene used to annoy him with cheek-kisses. He wasn't angry with her over it. But he _was_ thrown for a loop… as Mai had undoubtedly noticed. That night at the Italian bistro… she kept _grinning _cheekily at him. She'd obviously noticed his odd behavior and correctly deduced that her actions were the cause. That smirk had slid right off Mai's lips when he'd smiled at her...

Mai's lips. The focus of Naru's most _perplexing_ reaction to her unexpected thank-you. Even though she'd used the same 'attack method' as Gene always did... something about Mai's lips against his cheek had felt profoundly _different_.

For the twentieth time since _Obon_, Naru rolled his eyes at his own absurdity. _Of course _it was _different_ – Mai was obviously not his twin. But… his mind seemed to make special and continuous note of this last reaction, which disturbed Naru in an unquantifiable way. His mind inexplicably kept returning to that moment.

Naru was not a fan of the word 'inexplicable.' He spent most of his life finding explanations for the inexplicable, after all. Surely he could explain his own reactions. Perhaps... his brain was automatically red-flagging the increasing level of bodily contact that was creeping into his recent interactions with Mai. This idea had some merit - during the warehouse case, Mai had smacked Naru's arm instead of yelling at him like she usually did. This time, she'd ratcheted up a notch and_ kissed_ Naru on the cheek. Clearly against the rules - even Masako Hara had refrained from that particular action during her blackmail-entrenched pursuit of his affections.

"Although... I can hardly say this was my first experience with thank-you kisses," Naru grumbled aloud, lips thin. When he was fourteen, a teenaged SPR client had attempted to thank him_ romantically_. She'd come at him tongue-first - and Naru had practically fallen over himself trying to get away. Gene, of course, had found the whole thing hysterical, and made sure to bring it up multiple times a day. For _weeks_. Usually in front of Martin and Luella. He'd been especially fond of imitating Naru's flabbergasted expression.

Dr. Oliver Davis narrowed his eyes and met his own glare in the silvered glass. The thought of Gene brought to mind the other major issue plaguing him: his twin's possible adventures in dreamland with Mai. Naru felt that persistent ache in his chest - which he chalked up to agitation. _I__t's an expression of my aggravation with their probable collusion_, Naru concluded, gritting his teeth.

His suspicion that Mai was in contact with Gene grew more pronounced by the day. Between Mai's behavior on the case, her suspiciously advanced abilities, her repeat death dreams, and his twin's lacking correspondence of late… Naru was approximately ninety-five percent sure that they were communicating on the astral plane. However, he still had little to no idea as to _why_ Mai and Gene would hide their continued liaison. _And there was that twisting sensation again_. Naru decided to focus on another facet of the issue – how long they'd been able to communicate with one another.

Naru was unsure whether their contact was a recent development or the continuation of never-broken communication. He had initially assumed that Mai and Gene had only recently reconnected. Considering that Gene's spirit presumably resided in England (country of his home, twin, and burial place), it would make more sense if contact had been re-forged when Mai had transferred to Cambridge. Her first night in England came to mind – during which Mai had unexpectedly experienced the vision of Gene's death. Naru and Mai had tentatively decided that the vision resulted from sleeping in the Davis home and thinking about Gene. However, it was conceivable that the unanticipated dream was instead a symptom of spiritual reconnection. So it was possible that the connection had been re-established post-transfer.

But if so… why hadn't Mai said anything about meeting with Gene again? Abruptly twisting away from the mirror, Naru moved to his bedroom window. He stared out into the front garden and continued his mental rundown of the quandary at hand.

For the past week or so, Naru had been re-thinking his 'recent reconnect' theory; there was significant evidence_ against_ it. After all, the death dream had been unexpected only because Mai had just experienced it the prior week (as per Naru's careful questioning of Bou-san). Mai experienced the vision _regularly_. If the dream _were_ tied to her ability to see Gene… it would indicate that Mai's connection to Gene was regular, as well.

Additional observations lent support for this second option. If Mai had met with Gene on the warehouse case (as Naru believed), she hadn't seemed surprised about it upon waking. Like everything was normal on the astral plane… which would reinforce that Mai was used to seeing Gene.

But in either case, Naru's main issue was the same - _why_ _wouldn't Mai say anything?_ Naru glared harder as frustration rolled through him.

_Gene won't talk, either_, another part of Naru's mind helpfully reminded him. It was true. During the last _four_ cases, the perfect medium acted like he couldn't hear anything Naru asked. To be fair, Naru couldn't be totally sure his twin was faking – sometimes Gene really couldn't hear him. But knowing Gene as he did… Naru strongly _suspected_.

_But w__hat was left to hide?_ Naru simply couldn't understand their secrecy – it wasn't like he didn't already know that Gene was still around, infuriatingly refusing to move on. Naru also knew that Gene had guided Mai through SPR cases in Japan. And he knew that Mai had… romantic feelings for Gene.

A hollow feeling echoed through Naru – the same feeling he'd had upon revealing to Mai that Gene was truly the 'man of her dreams.' He could still see Mai's shocked, grief-stricken face in his memory. Naru did have a heart, after all, and he'd felt it wrench that night – over someone as vital and caring as Mai falling in love with a ghost. He still remembered the silence that followed his illuminating question… and the way Mai's hair blew in the breeze, covering most of her face. It didn't cover the tears dripping down, shining wetly on her cheeks.

He'd had to say _something_, so he told Mai that she'd meet Gene again. Naru remembered feeling surprisingly wooden as he'd said it. Perhaps because it sounded like he was telling Mai to wait alone for life? But he wasn't, really… Naru froze.

_Meet again_.

She and Gene would meet again, Naru had told Mai, at which point she could confess to the right person. If they were meeting now… perhaps Mai had already confessed. Was _that_ the impetus for their incomprehensible secretiveness? Were Mai and Gene in some kind of strange, out-of-body relationship? Naru ignored the discomfort he felt regarding the subject and thought hard. It was reasonable to believe that Mai would pursue Gene if given the chance. She had rather courageously confessed to himself, after all. And from the way that Mai had described her dream interactions with Gene… it was not outside the realm of possibility that Gene returned Mai's affections. So was _that_ it? They were… together and trying to hide it?

A moment later, Naru was gritting his teeth again. _How stupid_. Why would they feel it necessary to hide a relationship? After all, he was the person who told Mai that she was in love with… _wait_.

If they were involved, then of course Gene would want to remain a ghost for as long as possible. Was this hypothetical relationship behind Gene's refusal to move on? Naru bit down on his tongue. If that were the case, it would be an extremely bad situation for both sides. For Mai, it was delaying the inevitable, as well as deepening an already tragic emotional attachment. For his twin, it meant tying himself to a living person, which eventually caused spirits to become twisted, lost, and trapped in the living world. And both Mai and Gene _knew_ that.

"What are they _thinking?_" Naru hissed out loud. Intent on confronting Mai, he was at his bedroom door by the time he came to his senses. Naru had no evidence to back his theory, only educated supposition. It would be unfair to Mai and embarrassing to himself if he were to be proven incorrect.

So Naru needed proof. He would have to be cagy, he knew. Mai was stubborn and obviously determined to keep mum. Two years ago, Naru would have simply asked her outright – or demanded that she explain the situation. But Mai was older and wiser, and Naru was no longer her boss. Openly asking wasn't likely to work. So he'd have to be crafty about gleaning information. Naru smirked - he could certainly manage crafty. And now he had a definite theory _and_ a plan. His smirk widened as he felt the metaphorical ship of his soul settle - finally back to even keel, inside and out. Naru abandoned the bedroom and strode purposefully downstairs.

In the mirror, the unnoticed Gene heaved a sigh. He'd felt that his brother was thinking deeply about him, tugging unconsciously on their mental link, and so Gene had come to talk (guardedly, of course). But Noll had just stared hard out the window, obviously thinking something through. Gene had barely been able to make out the direction of Noll's thoughts, as it took a lot of energy to appear in the mirror. The perfect medium _could_ tell that he and Mai were in trouble.

And that his twin was _still_ an idiot scientist.

-0O0-

A couple of hours later, the Davis' butler entered the quiet sitting room and cleared his throat.

Madoka was the first to look up. "I guess it's time for dinner," she hazarded. She closed her laptop and glanced around the room. The plotting had ended once Martin had returned with a new possible case. Madoka and the Professors Davis had been doing research ever since. Lin had vanished upstairs, likely to see if Martin's library held any pertinent information on the type of possession the client's family had apparently experienced. Mai and Yasu were doing Cambridge prep reading. Bou-san was in the dining room, talking on the phone with his bandmates in Japan. And Luella had promptly dragged Ayako off somewhere, her hopes of an afternoon group outing dashed. Madoka was reasonably sure that they hadn't left the property, but... "Where did Luella and Ayako go?"

"They're in the back garden," Mai said absentmindedly, highlighting a passage from the prep packet she was reading. She didn't notice her professor raise a curious eyebrow.

"James, retrieve the two sunbathers, please," Martin requested, eyes on Mai. He continued to study her as the sounds of his butler's footsteps faded. "Taniyama," he said finally.

Mai looked up immediately. "Yes, sir?"

"How did you know where they were?" Martin asked. "You haven't moved from that spot in hours."

His student looked puzzled. "I sensed their auras," she replied, as if it were obvious.

Yasuhara grinned, perversely excited that Mai continually managed to surprise the professor. He noticed that Madoka and Naru were suddenly at attention, too.

"Of course… but how did you know that the auras were definitely those of Luella and Ayako? Lin isn't here, either," Martin pointed out. "He could be outside."

Mai paused a moment to locate the aura of the _onmyouji_. "Lin is upstairs in the study," she said decisively. Then she re-focused on the yard, closing her eyes for good measure. "Ayako and Luella are on their way back in now. With James, I assume…" She hadn't yet memorized the feel of James' aura. Mai opened her eyes to find three parapsychological researchers staring at her. Naru's laser gaze was expected, but she felt a bit overwhelmed by the equally unrelenting regard of Martin and Madoka. "What?" she asked.

"How do you know who's who?" Madoka asked excitedly.

"Well, everyone's aura is different," Mai replied uncomprehendingly. "Didn't we go over this already?"

"No!" Martin cried (still not blinking). "We talked about the differences between the auras of the deceased and the living, but I didn't know your senses were more finely tuned than that!" He grabbed a pad of paper and a pen, turned to a fresh page, and settled the pad on his lap – all without taking his eyes off of Mai.

_Does he think I'll disappear if he looks away for a second?_ Mai turned to Madoka for help (they were supposed to be eating dinner, and she was hungry), only to discover that the master ghost hunter had whipped her laptop open. Mai knew better than to try Naru – she would be surprised if he _wasn't_ sitting at the ready, case book open. And… yes, there it was. Mai giggled a bit before remembering that everyone was waiting on her. "Ah, well, besides being… brighter, like I said, the auras of the living are much more _individualized_ than those of ghosts," Mai started.

"Is this conclusion based on your personal experiences or topical research?" Naru asked dispassionately.

Mai was aware that Naru valued scientific evaluation over personal observations and beliefs. Since she wanted to study parapsychology herself, Mai had tried to incorporate as much research as possible into her own theories. So she smiled as she answered, "Both. Once I had developed my abilities enough to identify differences in the auras of those around me, I spent weeks researching the topic in order to understand what I was doing. And to flesh out my conclusions with evidence." Naru looked reluctantly impressed, and Mai's eyes twinkled victoriously.

Naru narrowed his eyes at Mai's confident smile. "Your conclusions concerning the identification of individual auras," he prompted.

"Right," Mai replied, still smiling. "Put succinctly, every aura is different, and if you can remember the way an aura makes you feel, you can learn to identify a person by sensing them. Spiritualists are the easiest to do this with, of course, but I can identify Luella now, as well as the two of you," she informed Professor Davis and Madoka.

Martin raised an eyebrow at this pronouncement. "Why would spiritualists be easier to identify?"

Naru jumped in. "I would hazard that spiritual powers are especially available to the senses, particularly to a fellow spiritualist."

Mai grinned a bit. "Right as usual, Naru. The presence of spiritual powers is one of the first things I notice about someone. For example, I know that Lin is coming downstairs – the back stairs – because I feel his… mature, controlled powers and settled, ordered soul. Very obviously Taoist. Not to mention his _shiki_ are rather un-missable."

"Obviously Taoist?" Madoka repeated with a grin.

"Yeah, that's where the research comes in. The more I know about our field, the more reference material I have to figure out a person's aura."

"What about Noll's?" Martin asked suddenly. "Noll has incredible amounts of PK. Can you sense that?"

"Of course," Mai replied. "Naru's aura jumps out at me immediately. His aura should be very bright, but…" Mai squinted at the person in question. "It feels like it's… under wraps. Like a lampshade over a bright light bulb." Mai did not mention that her own aura was constantly reaching out for Naru's. Or that Mai could sense Naru from much farther away than was usual. Those things had less to do with Naru's overwhelming aura and more to do with Mai's and Naru's greatly increased psychic connection. And that was not a permissible topic at the moment.

"A lampshade over a light bulb?" Martin repeated, scribbling something on his legal pad. "Why would that be? Perhaps Noll's PK is only openly 'bright' when in use?"

Lin cleared his throat; Mai turned to see his tall form resting against the door frame. "I would propose that it's because Noll exerts iron control over his PK. Wraps it up in a series of mental dams in order to keep it in check."

Mai squinted at Naru again. "Yeah, you're probably right. I guess it's similar to the way I pull inside myself to hide from ghosts."

Lin's lips twitched. "Of course it's similar, Taniyama-san. It's a control mechanism taught to _onmyouji_ – as we've previously discussed."

The teen psychic blushed. "Right. Oops. I forgot that you taught Naru to do that."

"You forgot?" Naru asked, voice suddenly sharp. "I don't remember informing you of any _qigong_ training I received." Maybe he wouldn't have to wait for his proof, after all.

"You wouldn't," Lin replied, raising an eyebrow at Naru's change in tone. "I was the one who told Taniyama-san about it. It was while you were in the hospital – you remember, when you _dropped_ all those guards against using too much power and nearly killed yourself."

The way that Lin answered the question while simultaneously reprimanding Naru was rather awe-inspiring, Mai mused. Aloud, she said, "Yeah, I couldn't believe you actually told me all that, Lin-san. Aside from your, uh, mini-meltdown about the Japanese, I think that was the most I'd ever heard you say at one time."

Lin made a noise that might have been a laugh. "You needed to calm down, Taniyama-san. I figured providing some answers would appeal to your inquisitive nature and distract you from crying."

Naru stopped being annoyed with Lin long enough to take in that Mai had been crying while he, Naru, had lain in the ICU. An alarmingly warm feeling swept through him.

"Are you calling me nosy, Lin-san?" Mai asked, laughing.

"It's alright, Mai-chan," Madoka said cheerfully. "He calls me nosy every day!"

"But speaking of _qigong_ training," Lin started, ignoring his girlfriend. "I think it would be wise to start those lessons we agreed on, Taniyama-san. Only I think we should do more than work on your meditation skills. From what I've observed during your testing sessions, _qigong_ is at the core of your PK-MT skills. And I know you utilize mage techniques to form the 'wall' that hides your aura. I believe that _qigong_ training with me would greatly benefit your development."

"Wow," Mai said, surprised at the offer. "Really?" The_ onmyouji_ nodded. "Well, thanks, Lin-san! When should we have lessons?" She beamed at her new instructor, and Lin actually smiled back.

Naru found himself discomfited with Lin's smiling at Mai. And understandably so – Naru was apparently losing his compatriot in nonchalance. Madoka's fault, obviously.

"Wednesdays before testing would be ideal," Lin answered. "You wouldn't have to go vegetarian any more often than you do now… and it's possible that training in the morning will have a positive effect on testing in the afternoon. A 'warm-up,' as it were."

Mai nodded buoyantly. "That makes a lot of sense." She already did simple _qigong_ exercises before testing. And now she was going to receive real _qigong_ training! It would probably improve her testing results... Mai threw a sniffy look at her head researcher. "How about that, Yasu? I'm getting _qigong_ training. Maybe I haven't _plateaued_ yet, after all."

Yasuhara grinned. During the last couple of testing sessions, he had been trying to spur Mai into better results by teasing her. Last Wednesday, he'd suggested (fake-seriously) that Mai's level of awesomeness had plateaued, and maybe they should just stop trying. The next three softballs were re-directed straight into his face guard. "We'll see, Mai-chan."

Mai stuck her tongue out and absentmindedly rubbed her gloved forearms. She could barely feel the raised marks under the silky material. She traced one of the scars with her finger, thinking about the last time she'd consulted with an _onmyouji_. She'd been training for the transfer. The master she'd studied with had been well versed in the procedure… wait, what if Lin knew about it, too? Mai's breath hitched. She'd been too hasty, accepting Lin's offer. What if he realized what she'd done?

Nervous, she looked up to see Naru regarding her intently. He had been watching her a lot lately. Possibly for scientific purposes – Naru was in the planning stages of a paper detailing the effects of Mai's 'animal nature' on the development of her other powers.

Or he could be suspicious about Gene.

In either case, Naru was paying Mai close attention. _So it was too late_, she judged._ If I back out of Lin's training now, it would look weird_. Not to mention, she didn't want to 'plateau' before Naru and Professor Davis even got to study her powers properly. So Mai threw Lin another smile. "Can't wait," she said firmly.

-0O0-

By the following day, Ayako and Luella were growing restless with all the sitting around. Bou-san and Yasuhara had gone out on some adventure in the city, and Lin and Madoka were out on a Sunday date. This left the bored Ayako and the increasingly fidgety Luella stuck in the house with Martin, Naru and Mai. All of whom had been reading silently since brunch.

Luella bit her lip. It was only a week until Mai's parent-figures returned to Japan… and Ayako had expressed a desire to go school-clothes shopping with her almost-daughter. Naturally, Luella was all for that plan. And Mai, although a paranormal enthusiast, had shown a fondness for normal-people activities like shopping. Surely, she'd want to have a girl's day out!

But all Mai had been doing since _Obon_ was read and train. Every day. Lather, rinse, repeat. Mai spent so many hours a day reading prep material that Luella suspected there might be a permanent Mai-shaped indentation in that sitting room chair. Something colorful wiggled at the edge of her vision; she looked up to see Ayako waving a circular that promised big sales at Debenhams. Luella nodded conspiratorially. "Mai dear," she started.

Her target looked up – and Luella swore she could see signs of eye strain in Mai's slightly unfocused gaze. "How about you give that reading a rest and come shopping with Ayako and myself? We're going to Edinburgh this weekend, after all, so you should have something new to wear. Besides, you start school in a scant five weeks."

"Wouldn't that be a better argument for continuing prep work than going shopping?" Naru intoned without looking up from his research.

"No," his adopted mother replied firmly. "She's done enough prep reading to move straight to exams. What she needs is school clothes." Luella turned back to Mai. "And clothes for Edinburgh – we'll be going to several shows, and you can't wear the same skirts to all of them."

"Ayako bought me new clothes already…"

"Yes, we know, but you've been wearing those all summer," Luella cut her off. Ayako had explained that Mai was against other people purchasing things for her, but Luella was _determined_ that they were going shopping. A fun activity that was _completely separate from the supernatural_. This aspect was key. After all, when Mai wasn't reading, she was talking about the reading with Martin and the SPR gang. With every book Mai consumed, Luella visualized the lovely girl morphing into an overworked, paranormal-obsessed SPR employee. Luella already had _four_ of those.

Yasuhara worried her far less than Mai did. As far as Luella could tell, he was much better at balancing work and play. Consequently, she was more impressed than concerned about Yasu's apparent determination to read through Martin's entire library by October.

But Mai was another story. Ayako insisted that Mai had something to prove (to Noll, Luella inferred), and so the teen psychic was glued to her reading list. Luella sighed. If this continued, Mai and Noll wouldn't get together unless they happened to simultaneously look up from their books and realize they ought to procreate to keep SPR in the family.

Besides, Luella hadn't been able to shop for girl clothes in _ages_.

"So... we'll be going to lots of shows?" Mai asked, perking up.

Luella fought a victorious grin. "Indeed. It's a big festival, Mai-chan. Lots of shows and art exhibitions. Ballet, theatre, comedians, etc. I hear there's going to be some sort of water show this year."

"Ooh," Mai's eyes sparkled. "Well… I guess I could use a nice outfit for the theatre. I only have one fancy skirt and one dress… maybe I need another dress?"

"You most certainly do," Ayako chimed in. "And I'll spring for it." Mai opened her mouth to protest, but Ayako held up a silencing finger. "Don't start. All almost-mothers are required to buy school clothes for their daughters-to-be."

"It's settled, then." Luella practically leapt out of her seat and smiled winningly at Mai. "We've got the whole afternoon! If we head out straightaway, we should be able to hit at least four good shops."

Mai was torn for a moment, thoughts of dresses and theatres juxtaposed with preparedness for her first day at Cambridge. She gripped the textbook as if it were a life-raft – and finally turned unsure eyes on the professor.

Who apparently knew what was good for him. Martin avoided his wife's piercing stare and nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, of course. Go ahead, Taniyama – a good student knows when to take a break. After all, you don't want all that information running together into nonsense."

"Right," Mai agreed. She set aside her textbook and grinned up at Luella and Ayako. "Let's go!"

-0O0-

The three shoppers sifted through racks with discerning eyes. Mai had several choices lined up for the dressing-room fashion show she was expected to star in. Also in the shopping cart were a few nice outfits for Luella and Ayako to try. Mai craned her neck to see what lay at the bottom of the cart – a new suit jacket for Martin... and a couple of dress shirts for Naru. Mai giggled. "It's so weird to think of Naru needing new clothes."

Luella laughed. "Want to help me pick out a jacket for him?" Mai blushed terribly and mumbled something indistinct. Smiling softly, Luella considered the men's section. A prominent display of sweaters prompted a wistful sigh. "I'd buy the dark red jumper for Noll, but there's really no point." Luella rolled her eyes. "No matter what I buy him, Noll just shunts anything with color to the back of the closet. Excepting special occasions, it's black, black, black, every day."

"Special occasions?" Ayako asked interestedly. The only non-black articles of clothing she'd ever seen on Naru were pajamas and hospital clothes. Naru in proper clothes _and_ color would be quite a sight. Ayako hoped one of these special occasions happened before she and Takigawa left for Japan.

"Yes, I have forbidden him to wear black on Christmas, Easter, or my birthday. Noll also abstains from wearing black on Mother's Day, as per his father's request." Luella smiled; she remembered overhearing that conversation. Her husband was a sweet, caring man underneath the paranormal fixation. "If we attend daytime functions - you know, like a garden party - I can sometimes wrangle Noll into blue or gray."

Mai lost herself for a moment, picturing Naru dressed up for a garden party. It was expectedly swoon-worthy… until Mai's mind got to his scowling face. Which was only visible for a second before Naru hid his radiance behind a book. She giggled and continued sifting through skirts.

"Mai, how about these?" Ayako held up three similar-looking skirts. The last one was nice – more flow-y than Mai's norm, with a pretty pattern. The hemline would hit just under Mai's knees. "I like that one on the right."

Luella made an appreciative noise before diving into a rack of women's tops. "I like that one, too. Good for anything from a day at the park to an outdoor party. Cambridge throws several receptions a year; you'll need a few outfits like that. Why don't you try it with this, dear?" She pulled a filmy white top from the rack.

Mai smiled. Luella had either examined Mai's tastes closely or had similar tastes herself. "That looks great!" she enthused.

"Excellent. So you'll need another set, only in a darker color." Luella's eyes searched the rack and Mai tried the next one over.

"Isn't Mai supposed to wear her academic clothes to Cambridge receptions?" Ayako whispered to Mrs. Davis.

"Yes, but you said you wanted to get a lot of clothes," Naru's mother hissed back.

A slow smile curved across Ayako's face. No wonder Luella and Madoka got along so well. "That I did," she affirmed.

-0O0-

Lin surreptitiously studied his new student through his long bangs. Mai's face was clear of expression, eyes closed, and she sat comfortably with legs folded – not twitching impatiently in the slightest. In short, she resembled a serious student of the meditative arts. Though Bou-san had mentioned that Mai had actually taken formal meditation lessons, a feeling of surprise worked its way through the _onmyouji_. He mentally contrasted Mai's current incarnation with the clumsy, rather frenetic girl she'd been two years ago.

After a few minutes, Lin cleared his throat to call his student back to attention. Mai opened her eyes, but rather than firing off questions (like he expected), she merely waited for further instruction. "You've… matured," Lin noted neutrally.

"Yeah, I changed my hair," Mai replied with a teasing smile.

Lin glared. "Your slight physical maturation is completely eclipsed by your spiritual advancement. You have come a long way in two years." Mai pinked at the compliment, and Lin's manner softened. "How familiar are you with the techniques of _qigong?_" Lin needed to measure Mai's existing knowledge and skill level in order to design an effective training plan.

Mai pursed her lips and considered. "Well, Bou-san took me to Mt. Kouya after I graduated from high school. He figured that the monks could help me control my new PK-MT. That's where I studied meditation and learned some basic _qigong_ skills."

Lin absorbed this information. Buddhist meditation skills, obviously – Mai's pose confirmed that. But as for the _qigong_… "They taught you _onmyouji_ techniques at a Buddhist monastery?"

A head shake from Mai. "No, Bou-san knows another _onmyouji_ who lives close to his family temple and asked him for a favor."

Lin nodded again. "Alright, Taniyama-san, the easiest way for me to gage your level is for you to go through your_ taolu_, or what you probably call _kata_."

Mai grinned. "I know they're called _taolu_, my teacher was an _onmyouji_ from _China_." She winked at Lin, reminding him of their conversation about his hatred of the Japanese. Even as Lin threw her an unamused glance, he considered his self-proclaimed abhorrence for Japan and its people. He couldn't honestly say that he hated the Japanese anymore – he was dating Madoka, after all. He didn't hate Naru, Gene, Mai, or any other Japanese person of his acquaintance.

He came back to Earth to find Mai waiting on him. "Excellent," Lin said finally. "I don't have to re-teach you rudimentary skills and watch shoddy Japanese-style _taolu_."

Mai giggled at his words. Two years ago she would have recoiled (and probably cried), leading Lin to assume he wasn't as forbidding as he used to be. He decided to blame Madoka.

Eventually, Mai demonstrated her skills – and Lin wound up impressed. She wasn't very far along, but her movements were precise, controlled and well-practiced. Lin was most interested, however, in the smattering of higher-level skills that didn't mesh with her _taolu_. Had the _onmyouji_ tailored Mai's instruction to train the PK-MT?

"Definitely a beginner…" Lin said flatly. He saw Mai's face droop and felt compelled to continue. "But also very fluid and precise. I take it you kept practicing the _taolu_ after your lessons ended?"

Mai nodded eagerly. "Twice a week – and always before testing on Wednesdays. You're right about today being the best day for training. Meditating really helps my mind relax and practicing helps my body sync better with my powers."

Lin nodded. The others hadn't exaggerated – Mai _was_ serious about training her powers. This was very interesting, since she'd been practically afraid of them (to the point of denying their existence) during the days of Japan's SPR. Naru had noted something similar, Lin remembered.

Mai noticed Lin's appraising glance and explained. "I couldn't ignore my psychic abilities anymore. We were opening a ghost hunting business, and I was going to be a lead investigator. I figured I couldn't really expect my employees to be at their best if I'm not at mine."

A memory of Mai screaming at Naru in the cave – telling him that he shouldn't rely on everyone else all the time – rang in Lin's head. Her desire to improve her control made much more sense. Her half-assed explanation that Yasuhara and Madoka had convinced her to train had left Lin (and likely Naru) unsatisfied.

The young psychic continued. "Especially after the PK showed up – the poltergeisting alone made me want to train. I didn't feel like destroying any more of Bou-san's property. So we decided to take a couple of family field trips to Mt. Kouya and see if the spiritualists there could help. Thank goodness they did." She rolled her eyes.

Lin made a noise in his throat. He felt slightly guilty – had he been in Japan while Mai was having these problems, he could have helped. The _onmyouji_ was glad that Naru wasn't here for this conversation; Naru would likely feel much worse than Lin did. "Did your instructor give you special lessons in PK-related _qigong?_" Lin asked. "You seem to have learned some high-level skills specific to PK usage."

Interestingly, Mai blanched for a moment before shutting her face down. "Yes," she answered slowly. "My PK was the most, um, destructive of my abilities, so we sorta went outside the box with my lessons."

Lin studied her for a moment, reminiscent of the narrow looks he saw Naru giving Mai lately. She was very hesitant about the PK… but Lin associated her reluctance to talk about it with embarrassment. He figured that the self-effacing Mai felt sheepish discussing her moderate PK-MT in front of the extremely powerful Naru and the people who'd trained him.

"Taniyama-san, don't be so self-conscious," Lin said in what he hoped was a soothing voice. Soothing wasn't his thing. "You've come to SPR to learn more about your powers – which are already well-developed and numerous. In order for me, or any of us, to properly gage what we're working with, you're going to have to be more open to discussing your abilities and your previous experience."

Biting her lip, Mai considered his words. In truth, it had been Gene who had taught Mai the 'higher-level' skills Lin had noticed. While Gene hadn't told her to keep his secrets from Lin, she figured telling Lin was tantamount to telling Naru. And Gene did not want Naru to know anything yet. Especially about the source of Mai's PK-MT. So naturally, Mai was loath to discuss anything related to it.

_But_, she reasoned, _Lin was already on the wrong track_. He thought that she had gotten the PK-specific training from Wen-sifu, the _onmyouji_ she'd briefly studied under in Japan. So long as he believed that, Mai could talk about Gene's training as if it were a living person's instruction. _Strategy confirmed_, as Yasuhara would say when scheming.

"Okay," she said aloud. "You're right. So yes, my mentor decided to incorporate some more advanced skills to help me control my PK. I was really worried about the poltergeisting. As we said at dinner that time, I broke a lot of stuff."

"Hmm," Lin noted, a smile in his voice, "Naru was worse."

"Yes, I remember you telling me about that at the hospital," Mai said with a grin. "'Whole rooms of furniture floating about,'" she repeated. She closed her eyes and got back into meditation position – missing Lin's look of confusion. "Okay," she said, "Meditation again, right?"

Lin stared at Mai's relaxed face and decided it would be counterproductive to question her at the moment. He remembered telling Mai that Naru had caused poltergeists as a child… but he had never told her about their severity. And it sounded like she had been quoting someone else's words – who had said them originally? Madoka, maybe, or the professor. Certainly not Naru himself; Naru did not enjoy recollecting the days of uncontrollable powers and bursts of destructive psychic energy.

Resolving to think on it further at a later date, Lin answered his new student. "Yes, Taniyama-san, let's meditate for a few minutes, concentrating on 'syncing' your body and mind with your powers. It will make the first real lesson go better, I think."

-0O0-

AN: I am so so so sorry for not finishing this chapter sooner. I work at a garden center, and this is our busiest time of the year. I've been going in early, staying late, and pretty much falling onto my couch and not moving until my husband sets my dinner next to my face. I will try very hard to post on time next week. Thank you very much for waiting!


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Season two of the anime would be out on DVD.  
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**Chapter 18 – Goings and Comings**

-0O0-

Mai's stomach churned as she walked through the busy airport, Ayako's dress bag over her shoulder. Bou-san and Ayako were going home today.

The couple and their companions were slowly wending their way to the baggage lines. Mai held the bag-strap with one hand, and the back of Bou-san's shirt with the other. Mai had told her adopted father that she didn't want to get lost in the crowd... but truthfully, it was separation anxiety that prompted her white-knuckled grip.

Which was almost funny, really – Mai had lived alone for years, largely unsupported and almost completely independent. She had cooked, cleaned, paid bills, and shopped for herself without a fuss. She had been okay with picking up and moving halfway across the world for school. Mai walked into haunted houses like other people walked into office buildings. And _now_ she freaks out?

It wasn't even like Bou-san and Ayako were leaving Mai to her own devices. She would be living with Yasuhara, her best friend. She'd be over at the Davis mansion all the time. Mai would have Naru, Lin, Madoka, _and_ Martin to help her with paranormal issues. Luella and Madoka were available in case of girl problems (and honestly, Luella was more suited to deal with maternal issues than was Ayako).

So pretty much, Mai's guardians were leaving her in the hands of _other guardians_. And Ayako would be back by Christmas (Bou-san had a bunch of gigs lined up during that time). So why did it feel like Mai's legs were about to fall out from under her?

The teen psychic was so deep in thought that she didn't notice Bou-san stop moving until her face hit his shoulder blade. "Ouch." Apparently they had reached the baggage line.

"Well, jou-chan, that's what you get for spacing out." Bou-san turned in place and Mai reluctantly released his shirt.

The monk-slash-bass-player noticed her anxiety and tipped Mai's chin up to get a better look at her. "What's wrong? You look like you're about to cry." His eyes lit up. "Oh! Are you going to miss me, Mai? That's my girl!" Bou-san dragged Mai into a tight hug.

It took almost a whole minute for Mai to free herself, by which time she was gasping for air. "_Oya-baka_!" she accused, smiling a little. "But... yeah, I am. I feel kinda stupid about it - I mean, I'm_ used_ to being on my own. And I won't even really _be_ on my own." She gestured towards the squabbling group behind them in line.

Bou-san smiled faintly. "Well, that's true. But you shouldn't feel stupid about missing us. Remember, Mai - I lived alone for a long time, too. I wasn't as _young_ as you were, but still… I spent a good six years on my own. And I'm _definitely_ upset about leaving my daughter in a foreign country." Mai's adopted father ruffled her hair. "And that's perfectly normal – we're a family, jou-chan. I know that you've felt that way for years… but it's a bit different now. We live together, we own a business together, we talk and eat together every day – of course you're going to miss us."

"Besides," an eavesdropping Ayako chimed in, "Despite the _ridiculous_ amount of reading you've been doing, up until now this has been more like a long vacation. We've been here with you - we've gone sightseeing, we just spent the weekend on holiday in Edinburgh, and we were living in a summer rental."

"Well, Yasu and I will_ still_ be living in the rental…" Mai interrupted.

Ayako rolled her eyes. "Right, but my point is – now it's real. You're going to be _living_ in England for three years, and in a month and a half you'll start at Cambridge University. It's a big change."

Mai nodded. They were right. Her eyes teared at the rare motherly tone in Ayako's voice, but Mai did not want to cry in front of the entire terminal. And then Ayako reached for her hand, destroying any semblance of tear-control. Mai sniffled as Ayako wound long fingers through her own gloved ones. She felt her almost-mother's diamond ring brush against the black silk... and for whatever reason, that was the last straw. "I'm going to miss so much wedding stuff!" Mai burst out, tears spilling over at last.

Bou-san snorted. "You could always trade places with me, Mai. I don't care about table linens and party favors."

"You will," Ayako replied, her sweet tone belying the threat in her eyes. "You are going to _every appointment_."

"I'm thinking I have gigs those days."

"I'm thinking you're full of it."

Mai giggled at the familiar behavior patterns, a weight dropping from her shoulders.

Above her head, Bou-san and Ayako exchanged a smile, having bickered on purpose to distract their upset child.

Behind them, Luella smiled at the familial scene… while trying very hard not to remember the last time she'd been to Heathrow's security line for international departures. It wasn't working. She had insisted on accompanying the foursome to the airport, figuring that Mai might need some adult reassurance. But Luella hadn't counted on grief rearing its terrible head... She could almost_ see_ Gene standing before her, pointing out locations on his map of Japan and talking excitedly with Martin. Luella smiled slightly, recalling that her animated son kept tripping into the large blue suitcase behind him. Gene had taken Noll's suitcase, as it was bigger than his own. Noll used it for cases and always needed extra room for equipment.

Thoughts of the blue suitcase tugged Luella's mind slightly forward in time… it had been in Gene's hotel room, when Noll and Lin searched the place. To gain access without causing a fuss, Noll had pretended to be Gene and told the front desk that he'd lost his key card. The desk staffer hadn't even thoughts twice about it, of course, as the boys looked exactly alike. According to Lin, Noll had touched almost everything in the room and went through the suitcase twice, but his psychometry couldn't tell him anything new. He _did_ notice that Gene's map was missing.

Luella swallowed a lump in her throat. They'd all pored over that map before Gene left for Japan, highlighting especially interesting places and marking locations in which other mediums were supposed to live. Luella pressed her lips together and felt her eyes burn with unshed tears.

The missing map had upset Noll greatly. Though they'd known most of the places Gene was planning to visit, there _were_ a few exceptions. Gene had heard about other two mediums while in Japan, and hadn't given his family information about either one. Additionally, Luella remembered a small circle drawn on the map, next to a random town. She'd asked Gene about it – he just shrugged and said it was probably a mistake. But his mother had wondered. Gene was an explorative young man, after all.

Following the hotel search, Luella told Noll about the mysterious circle. Noll had been quite frustrated that she couldn't remember where on the map it had been drawn. Luella had been frustrated herself – she spent days sifting through similar maps, searching for a spot that resembled the marked area...

It hadn't mattered, in the end – it turned out that the lake was close to the home address of the second extra medium. Noll discovered her identity the day the divers had… pulled Gene's body from the lake. Luella closed her eyes. Noll and Lin had visited the woman in the hours between the divers' find and the arrival of herself and Martin. They found out that Gene had in fact visited her that day. According to the medium, they'd had a lovely chat over dinner. She also said that Gene had refused her offer of a ride to the train station – he'd wanted to walk, as the scenery was lovely and the night was warm. Noll believed her to be truthful. He figured that Gene must have been on his way back to the town's secluded station when the car…

A hand drifted across Luella's back and came to rest on her shoulder. Martin hugged her to him gently, a commiserating look in his eyes. He was thinking about Gene, too. Luella studied Mai's still-teary face before her gaze drifted to Bou-san and Ayako. "May they return home and come back again safely," she whispered feelingly.

Naru stared holes into a nearby wall and tried to block all of them out. His parents were obviously thinking about Gene leaving for Japan from this very gate. They hadn't been back to the departures area since – Naru himself had left England like a thief in the night, accompanied only by Lin and a sleepy-but-determined Madoka. Hoping to avoid hysteria, Naru had told Martin and Luella that his flight was the following day. (His mother had been beyond furious; she'd called six times that first night in Japan.) And now Naru got to suffer the emotional scene he'd sidestepped three years ago. Gene would have said it was karma.

By the time they finally reached the security gate, Ayako had started crying – which naturally started Mai off again. Luella had been teary since they'd hit the baggage line. Not being able to stomach any more, Naru turned on his heel and made for the nearest airport shop.

-0O0-

Houshou Takigawa sighed. They'd successfully made it to the gate, but the imminence of separation had rendered his women hysterical. Both his fiancée and his daughter were crying buckets. And Mai was going to need air soon.

For the first time ever, Bou-san was the one who had to pull Mai out of someone's too-tight hug. "Come on, Ayako – you won't be able to welcome Mai back home to Japan if you kill her now."

"Oh, shut it, Houshou! You have no right to talk."

Mai giggled, still slightly out of breath. "She has a point, Bou-san."

"I save you and you side with her? What an ungrateful jou-chan you are."

"Ten pounds says _you_ hug me harder before you head through that gate," Mai replied, grinning through tears.

"We're on our way to Japan, Mai – you should make your bets in yen." Suddenly, Bou-san's eyes lit up and he exchanged a glance with Ayako. "Which reminds me… we have a little parting gift for you." He rummaged in his jacket pocket as Ayako reached into her purse.

Mai's eyes widened as her adopted father and almost-adopted-mother held out loads of banknotes. She couldn't tell exactly how much was there, but it looked like a lot of money. "Wha-what's all that for?"

"It's for you, jou-chan," Bou-san said brightly. "We can't use these in Japan, and the last thing we want to do is drag our jet-lagged bodies to the bank to exchange money. So we decided to give our extra cash to you!"

Like that made sense. "So just go to the bank when you're not jet-lagged!" Mai argued, her face almost horrified. "I can't take all that!"

Bou-san waved his free hand dismissively. "Nah, I'm too lazy and I don't think that Ayako has another day off until Christmas. _Take it_, jou-chan."

"No!" Mai cried adamantly.

Ayako sighed dramatically. "We figured it would come to this." Her eyes focused on something behind Mai. "Yasu?"

Mai tried to flip around, but firm hands grabbed her arms and held them behind her back. Mai's mouth dropped open as her (supposed) best friend stepped in closer, restricting her movement.

Ayako and Bou-san took immediate advantage of her immobility, stuffing Mai's pockets and purse with the proffered money. Then they kissed her cheeks and backed towards the gate. Bou-san winked at his astounded adopted child. "Don't spend it all in one place," he cautioned playfully.

Mai tried to speak, but couldn't quite manage it.

"Never mind spending it in one place," Ayako cut in. "Don't you _dare_ spend it on investigation equipment! There is enough at SPR to run _six_ ghost hunting businesses, let alone TTMPI."

The mention of TTMPI finally spurred its lead investigator's tongue back into action. "Make… make sure you pay the rent for the office on time," she requested softly. "And try to keep Masako-chan out of the hospital."

Bou-san's eyes softened and he walked back over. Mai felt Yasu step away from just as the monk enfolded her in an unusually gentle hug. "We will, jou-chan."

"And try to keep _yourself_ out of the hospital," Ayako added, caressing Mai's face and leveling a no-nonsense look at the gathered members of SPR. She frowned as she noticed that the one she held most responsible for Mai's safety was not present.

The doctor-slash-shrine-maiden raised a well-kept eyebrow. "Where's Naru?"

-0O0-

Dr. Oliver Davis stood sullenly in a convenience shop a few gates down.

_Why _his parents thought coming here would be a good idea was beyond him. _They probably hadn't thought about it until they got here_, he reminded himself as he mindlessly leafed through a scientific journal. Naru certainly hadn't anticipated a barrage of memories to accost him the moment they entered the departures terminal. Memories of Gene's happy face waving goodbye contrasted sharply with his own frantic, tumultuous departure and assuredly frozen expression. Naru looked down at his hands and remembered the way they'd shaken as he clutched his last-minute plane ticket.

A few long minutes later, Madoka appeared at his side. "Come on, Noll, we're leaving," she said softly.

"You're not going to yell at me?" he asked, mildly curious. His abrupt and wordless departure had surely been a breach of etiquette.

"Of course not. None of us thought about..."

"I didn't, either," Naru admitted fairly.

"I think Mai-chan feels pretty awful about the whole thing," Madoka noted. "She twigged it when Martin said something about the departures gate having a bad effect on everyone." Then his mentor smiled slightly. "Mai-chan also purposefully stepped on Ayako's foot when she complained about your vanishing without saying goodbye. Practically took Ayako's toes off."

Naru's lips twitched as he abandoned the end cap of books he'd been standing in front of. He was almost sorry he'd missed that. "Let's go."

The two ghost hunters rejoined their group, which was now short two members. Mai smiled brightly at Naru, despite the traces of sadness he could see on her face. He unwillingly admired her quick recovery time. _She's always been like that_, Naru thought, remembering the Gellerini case. Even injured and trapped in a haunted well, Mai went from panicky terror to eager enthrallment in three minutes flat.

The subject of his ruminations waved a wad of bills at him. "Let's get out of here, Naru," Mai said. "Dinner's on me."

-0O0-

Mai entered the apartment's living room to find it completely empty. She stared morosely at the kitchen – today was the first day since they'd gotten here that breakfast wasn't in the process of being made by Bou-san (the early riser of the group). She felt sad for a moment, gripping the cell phone that her adopted parents had called in the middle of the night. They'd arrived safe and sound, and were taking a whole day to sleep and re-adjust before heading back to work. It had been smart of Ayako to take two extra vacation days – a jet-lagged doctor couldn't be a good idea.

She heard the creak of a door, and Yasuhara appeared – bright-eyed and already dressed. Mai suddenly felt lazy in her bathrobe and unbrushed hair. Then Yasu threw her a grin. "Our adventure starts, Mai-chan!"

Mai couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm. _Of course_ he'd be thrilled at the lack of parental supervision. Mai made a mental note set some ground rules before Yasu went out again. She didn't want to wind up coming home to anything graphic.

Yasuhara walked past her into the kitchen and pulled out some leftovers from last night's dinner. Mai had treated everyone to Japanese at a lovely Kyoto-style restaurant, and Luella had insisted that all the leftovers go home with Mai and Yasu (as they were now living without guardians). She watched as Yasu put rice and nanbanyaki in the microwave before setting bowls and sets of throwaway chopsticks on the table. Mai raised an eyebrow at his unexpected industriousness – Yasu was usually as lazy as she was in the mornings. "Going somewhere?"

"We both are."

Mai raised her other eyebrow.

"The professor said we should come to SPR if we get bored," Yasu explained. "So unless you've got secret plans for today, go get dressed so we can bother Naru at work!"

Mai grinned, already hearing Naru's complaints in her head. She wondered if he'd slam the door as hard as he had in Japan. Probably not – it was his father's office building and not his, after all.

She was headed for her bedroom a sudden realization stopped her dead in her tracks. Mai flipped around and addressed a curious Yasuhara with an upset-but-resigned look on her face. "I'm going to spend the whole afternoon making tea, aren't I?"

-0O0-

"Goooood morning, Naru!"

Silence.

"Aw, come on, Big Boss. Nothing? I practiced that all morning! Had to get the peppiness level _just_ right."

Oliver Davis flipped a page. If he ignored it, it would go away.

"You know, if I don't get a reaction, I'll only step up my game."

"Is Mai with you?" Naru asked without looking up.

Yasuhara grinned. "Maybe. You'll have to come out of your dungeon – I mean _office_ – to find out."

Naru's lips twisted. "If this were a dungeon, I would have an oubliette to lock you in."

"Kinky, Big Boss."

"Mai!" Naru barked. If it wasn't going away, he would need liquid fortification.

His former assistant's head popped into the room. She rolled her eyes. "You want me to get rid of Yasu, right? Well, you're in luck - Madoka-san wants him to look at some new testing equipment."

"While that is relieving news, that's not precisely what I called you for."

Mai's eyes narrowed to slits. "It had better be a question for your thesis, then. I am _not_ your employee anymore and am _not_ required to make you tea!"

"Your indignation is rather curious, Mai. When you're at my house, you make me tea several times a day. And yet you become outraged at the idea of making me tea at the office. I say 'idea,' of course, because I haven't actually _asked_ you to make me tea." Naru's tone somehow managed to convey amusement and condescension at the same time.

Mai breathed in through her teeth and clenched her fist. "First of all, Narcissist, I don't make _you_ tea several times a day, I make tea for _everyone_. It's not all about you, you know!"

"Except it kinda is," Yasuhara whispered to Madoka from their hiding place outside Naru's door. He found it funny that neither Mai nor Naru seemed to notice that he was no longer in the room.

"Second of all, making tea on behalf of Luella – _who asks nicely and says thank you_ – is completely different from making tea at the command of her demanding and ungrateful son!"

"I assume you're referring to our days at SPR in Japan," Naru conjectured. "If so, I'll remind you that I paid you for a full day's work and we both know that you spent at least half that time sleeping, goofing off, or staring into space. I should think that my lacking observance of social graces was a comparatively minor infraction."

Mai couldn't actually argue with that. But – "Hold on – did you just admit that you suck at something?"

A pause. "I choose to spend my valuable time and energy on more useful pursuits."

"That's not a no, Naru!" Mai noted in a sing-song voice.

Cue facial spasm. "Mai, tea."

"Didn't we just go over this? I'm not your employee anymore!"

"That might not be entirely true," Naru revealed amusedly.

"Huh?"

"Have you spoken with Martin this morning?" Naru was being deliberately vague, knowing it would both irritate and interest Mai.

"No..." Mai said slowly. He was baiting her, she just _knew_ it.

Naru smirked as Mai's right eye started twitching. "You'll want to do that. He has a proposition for you - and for Yasuhara, as well." Intriguing pronouncement made, Naru returned to his research.

Realizing she'd lost the game, Mai decided to seek out the professor.

But Naru's annoyingly calm voice followed her out of the office. "The water's always hot, Mai, so if you pour the tea now, it should be perfectly steeped by the time you finish your chat with Martin."

Mai whipped back around, eyes blazing. She stomped back to Naru's office, intent on stealing his research and running for it. Playing keep-away might be childish, but –

"Taniyama?"

The professor's voice snapped Mai out of her red haze. She stopped dead and regarded the head of SPR with a mix of surprise and chagrin. "Yes, sir?"

"Would you join me in my office for a moment? Yasuhara, you as well."

"Yes, sir!" Yasuhara said... from right next to her?

Mai swallowed her surprise at seeing her best friend and Madoka skulking outside Naru's door and answered the question. "Of course, Professor Davis," she replied sweetly. Then she swung to face an amused Naru. "Did you hear your father, Narcissist? That's called _asking nicely!_"

"I'm aware of that, thanks, Mai."

"How come you only say 'thank you' when you're being a jerk?"

Naru rolled his eyes. "Shouldn't you be heading to my father's office? After all, he did _ask nicely_."

"_Jerk_."

"I don't know what you're expecting. I haven't had my tea yet."

"And you won't, with that attitude."

"You could have some yourself, too," Naru mused, highlighting something on the page he was reading. "SPR has started stocking green tea – as per my request. I figured you would be here more often once Bou-san and Ayako returned to Japan."

Mai just stood there for a moment, mouth hanging open. Naru had done something… nice for her? And ADMITTED it? She felt a blush creeping up her neck. "Um… thanks?"

Naru _almost_ said that Mai shouldn't be making fun of his manners given her own apparently less-than-awesome thanking skills. But then he wouldn't get tea. Besides, Mai's blushing shock was always entertaining. Prolonging that was worth ending the argument. "You should go talk to my father."

Mai nodded, still off-balance. "Right," she replied, moving away slowly.

"Earl Grey, Mai."

"Fine! But don't get used to it, Narcissist!" Mai called as she walked away.

Madoka leaned against one of the cubicles in the center of the office, grinning as a cadre of shocked SPR workers followed Mai with their eyes. "Come on, guys, you've seen _me_ put Noll in his place before!"

"Yeah, but… that was a _new employee_," Martin's secretary noted in an awestruck voice. "Dr. Davis usually just ignores those."

"Well, Mai-chan has _loads_ of special talents." Madoka winked.

"You mean_ that_ wasn't her best trick?" a young man named Gregory asked, gesturing towards Naru's now-closed office door.

Madoka smiled. "No, as you_ might_ get to see." An excited squeal sounded from Martin's office. "Correction – as you'll _definitely_ get to see."

-0O0-

"Really, Professor?" Mai asked, bright happiness in her eyes.

"Indeed, Taniyama. Not only did you play an enormous part in solving the warehouse case, but you and Yasuhara already contribute to SPR's mission by regularly testing your powers. And it's obvious that your _numerous_ abilities are at their most effective in the field. Personally, I can't _wait_ to see what else you can do," Martin effused. "You also know that Noll wants to do a paper on how your 'animal intuition' affects your other powers... and he'll need to observe you in action to gain more current situational data. Besides, Taniyama… you said you've been feeling 'sidelined' lately, yes? Helping on more SPR cases would solve that problem nicely."

Mai had indeed said this during her last TTMPI phone call/case discussion with John and Masako. She had been practically jumping up and down from the frustration of not being able to _physically_ help her team. "I totally agree, Professor Davis."

"This is going to be awesome!" Yasuhara enthused. "Just what the doctor ordered!"

"I think Dr. Ayako Matsuzaki would actually be pretty peeved about this," Mai corrected. Ayako _had_ requested that she keep out of the hospital, after all - and Mai had a tendency to wind up hurt during ... she'd be working with Naru again, and he usually kept her from being seriously injured. Mai bit her lip to hide a grin. "I'm sure we can bring Ayako around somehow."

"Excellent," Martin said with relish. "Obviously, you'll be on Madoka's team. And as luck would have it, there's a case starting this week. Creaky Victorian house in Brighton, with new owners who've experienced more falling down the stairs than expected. Also strange scrapings along the paneling of several rooms, screams during the night…"

"Sounds almost too easy for Naru," Mai mused.

"Yes, well, the screams are often punctuated by hysterical laughter."

"That's odd and creepy," Yasuhara interjected.

"Yes, quite – and that's what made Noll decide to go along," Martin noted. "He figures that multiple ghosts are involved, but wonders about their rather disparate dispositions."

"Well, we'll figure it out," Mai said resolutely. She accepted the pink case folder from a smiling Martin. "Tea, sir? There are two pots ready – Earl Grey and green."

"I'll take some of the green variety, to match the new employees with whom I intend to toast."

Mai grinned. Martin was such a gentleman. "Coming right up." She tucked the folder under her arm and set off for the office kitchen.

-0O0-

A jubilant Mai Taniyama pranced into Naru's office. He noticed (with disappointment) that she was not carrying tea.

"Naaa-ru!" she sang. "Your father says that if you want your tea, you have to come to the conference room!"

He raised an eyebrow. "The conference room?"

"Mm-hm," Mai affirmed happily. "He wants to have an information-swapping meeting for all _employees_ involved in the Brighton case."

Obviously, she had agreed to work for SPR. Naru barely managed not to smile - Mai's huge grin was troublingly contagious. Interestingly, he did not have problems resisting the similarly gleaming force of Madoka's smile...

"Oh, come on, Naru! Your precious tea will get cold!" Mai stuck her tongue out and skipped away.

Naru rolled his eyes, but collected the information he'd gathered and followed Mai's bouncing form to the conference room.

-0O0-

On Thursday morning, Mai and Yasu rolled their suitcases into SPR's elevator. Mai pushed the button for the laboratory floor before rocking back onto her heels. "I wonder why we're not leaving from the Davis house," she pondered aloud.

"Because the extra equipment's here," Yasuhara replied. "The professor wants us to bring some electrodes to measure your brainwaves."

This was new information to Mai. "What?" she asked, mildly alarmed.

"Yeah, Martin wants to collect hard data on any psychic dreams you might have." Yasuhara grinned jauntily. "I think Naru does, too. You know, for his paper."

"Great," Mai gritted out. She was going to spend the next few nights with electrodes attached to her head. _And if the electrodes are portable_, Mai thought with horror, _I'll be spending the whole case looking like a shock therapy patient_…

"You may want to consider asking Naru to give you a fake name in his paper," Yasuhara reflected, scrutinizing his own image in the polished elevator door. He needed a haircut.

"Huh?" Mai asked, not really listening. She was lost in reveries about sleeping with endless wires tangling around her legs, and beeping machines tracking her every thought and muscle twitch. The equipment was supposed to track psychic dreams… but what if she had a normal dream? And what if... _Naru_ was in it? Mai cringed. She'd had an embarrassingly romantic dream about Naru only last week. What if SPR could tell, somehow? Oh, that would be _terrible_… How would she explain herself?

Yasuhara watched Mai's face run the gamut from lost, to thoughtful, to displeased, to shocked, to more shocked, to mortified, to confounded. "Ah, Mai-chan? What's up? You look like you're thinking about something really interesting." Mai's eyes snapped to Yasuhara as if she'd just remembered he was there. He grinned into her suspiciously red face. "Wondering whether Big Boss will be watching while you sleep? Hmm… if you play your cards right, maybe he'll hold you in his arms while you sleep."

"_What?_ No!" Mai cried, reddening even more.

The elevator dinged, and Mai ran away from her tormentor only to run _into_ an impatient Madoka. "Come on, guys, we have to get a move on," the master ghost hunter trilled, pushing the transfer students forward. "You've both brought your swimming costumes, right?"

The flurry of motion distracted Mai from her electrode dilemma. "Yeah, we did. Do you really think Naru's going to let us have time off to go to the beach?" Brighton was a big beach town, apparently, and Madoka was under the impression that they were going swimming at some point.

"You forget, Mai-chan,_ I'm_ the boss," Madoka replied, a slow smile crossing her face. "If I say we're going to the beach, then we're going. Besides, we're obviously going to solve the case _first_ – so Noll will have no grounds to complain!"

"Hey, Mai-chan, we might get to see Naru half-naked," Yasuhara teased. "That should make up for the electrodes."

The word 'electrodes' pervaded the happy image of Naru in swim trunks (black, of course), and reminded Mai of her concerns. Without thinking, she asked, "Madoka-san, if I have a dream on the case, can the electrodes tell _who_ I'm dreaming about?"

"You want to know if we can identify the ghost... by studying data from the electrodes?" Madoka gave Mai a confused look.

But Yasuhara's observant (and pervy) brain considered Mai's words from a different angle. '_Who_ I'm dreaming about,' she'd said. He connected Mai's question to her blushes in the elevator...

A burst of hysterical laughter caused both women to stare at Yasuhara.

"Don't worry, Mai-chan!" he wheezed between bouts of mirth. "I don't think we'll get _pictograms_ or anything!"

"Pictograms?" Mai repeated quizzically. What were those?

Yasu's glasses flashed. "Yes, pictograms – information in the form of pictures. Which you're clearly afraid will illustrate your dreams of sex on the beach with Naru!"

"Wha – _shut up!_" Mai cried, whacking her best friend on the arm. "I did _not_ say that and don't you _dare_ say anything like that in front of…"

"Is everything all right?" Martin asked from behind them.

Mai whipped around in horror, hoping desperately that the professor had not heard_ any of that_.

"Of course, sir!" Yasuhara replied immediately, sounding positively virtuous. "Mai-chan here was worried about the electrodes falling off while she's sleeping."

She absolutely was _not_ – at this point, Mai rather hoped they _would_ fall off while she was sleeping. Maybe she could _pull_ them off and pretend it was a sleepy accident…

"Well, that's never happened before," the professor mused. "But I'm pleased that you're so eager to provide data for us, Taniyama!"

Damn, now she'd have to leave them on. "Uh… of course, Professor. So, um, where's the equipment?"

"It's still in the lab, Taniyama – I want to run a couple of baseline scans before you're on haunted property. To provide a comparison with any results, you see."

Mai nodded, calming down inside. The scientific sense of Martin's words had kicked her research training into gear. "Okay," she said with new equanimity. "Let's do it."

-0O0-

A few minutes later, Mai sat still like a good little test subject as Martin attached electrodes to her temples.

As he typed commands into the attached computer, Madoka leaned over and whispered in the teen's ear. "Don't fret, Mai-chan. The reports _might_ indicate that you're dreaming about something… happy, but they definitely won't be able to pinpoint _who_ you're dreaming about. If necessary, we'll just lie and say you had a psychic dream about an intimate moment from the house's past – the previous couple who lived there were _newlyweds_, after all."

Mai giggled a bit hysterically. "Won't that throw off the data?" she whispered back. Then she thought of something worse. "The case! What if Naru and Lin-san come to the wrong conclusions about the ghosts?"

Madoka rolled her eyes. "Calm down, Mai-chan. It won't throw the data off in any way that matters – and I'm sure you and I can lead the boys onto the right path when it comes to the exorcism."

"You're right, Madoka-san - just in case I haven't said so lately, you're totally awesome." Mai smiled at the master ghost hunter.

"Well, thank you, Mai-chan." Madoka backed away and stood beside Yasuhara. "It's nice to remember that at least one of them has accepted their feelings," she whispered out of the corner of her mouth. Then she snorted. "So… sexy dreams, huh? Maybe Luella _will_ get grandkids someday."

Yasu coughed to cover his laughter.

-0O0-

Mai's nose pressed against the glass of the van's side window. She watched the beach roll by, tons of people milling about on the sand. A long pier jutted out into the ocean – with lots of rides on it! "Ooh, Madoka-san, can we go there?"

"We are not here for a vacation, Mai," Naru's voice barked from the front seat. "I suffered through one of those only last week."

"I wasn't talking to you, Naru! And what do you mean, _suffered?_ We had a great time! And besides, you hardly 'suffered' – you spent half the weekend at the hotel! Luella only made you go to the big water show. Otherwise, you pretty much just read and sulked… which is what you do _every_ _day_."

Everyone snickered. Naru glared at Mai in the rearview mirror.

Madoka stifled a laugh and addressed her new team member. "To answer your question, Mai-chan… I'm not sure if we'll have time to go to the Pier. I'd rather go to the beach, since that's something we can't do in London."

"We are on a _case_," Naru contested peevishly.

"Yes, well, _after_ the case, we'll be going to the beach," Madoka insisted, somehow managing to sound pleasant _and_ threatening.

"That would be a ridiculous waste of time."

"No, it will be a delightful day of fun," Madoka retorted. "Picnicking on the sand, sunbathing…"

"Lovely ladies in bathing suits…" Yasuhara added brightly. "And I hear there's a nude beach! A fine example of European culture, obviously, so I must check that out." He grinned at hearing Naru's disgusted sigh. Safely in the very back seat and out of Naru's immediate vicinity, Yasu decided it was safe to poke the beast. "Shame we'll be missing out on the nightclubs, Mai-chan, I hear they're great. With lots of fun, eligible boys for you to dance with." Naru stiffened and Yasu smiled in victory.

Mai, however, was paying no attention. "Going swimming," she said dreamily. She did not get many chances to swim in the ocean. Mai had been a poor, independent high school student with no money to travel, and was now an incredibly busy college student-slash-business owner with no time to travel. She couldn't _wait_ to go frolicking in the surf.

"Sorry about the nightclubs, guys," Madoka said, winking at Yasu. "And I'm pretty sure that the nude beach will not be as entertaining as you think." The ratio of men to women was sure to disappoint her eager protégée. "But we are _definitely having a beach day_." Madoka flicked the back of Naru's headrest for emphasis.

Naru ignored the flicking and sighed testily, recognizing the determined edge in Madoka's voice. They were going to the beach.

Maybe he could lock himself in the van.

-0O0-

AN: Okay, so not exactly on schedule, but a week and a half earlier than last time!:) I will try to update regularly until the end of this month... to tide you guys over for when I go on vacation for two weeks. I couldn't even get my phone to work in Europe the last time I was there, so I'm guessing I won't be able to post anything lol. Plus, I'll be on a tour, which means that I'll have exactly zero time to sit and write. But I'm very excited - I'm going to Italy, Greece and Turkey! And for the first time, my husband is actually going to go with me! Besides, we should get to Naru's birthday by then...


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Manga would be ongoing.  
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**Chapter 19 – Changing the Game**

-0O0-

Mai felt it slam into her the moment she walked through the door. "Anger," she stated clearly. "Anger and… something else. Hold on, I'll try to get a better read on it." She closed her eyes and stretched out with her senses.

"Sadness, maybe?" Madoka guessed as she walked through the dimly-lit front hall. It looked like a sad house to her.

"No... not really," Mai replied softly, concentrating harder. She felt two distinct energies – one clearly furious, the other... excited? _That didn't bode well_, she thought grimly. Any ghost that was excited to see a bunch of strangers in the house tended to provide a very _active_ haunting. Worse still, she couldn't identify a locus for either energy. "I can't find the ghosts," Mai told the group. "I _can_ feel their emotions, though. The anger, especially, is… pressing on my consciousness. It's… _hot_ anger, if that makes any sense."

"A ghost with a temper," Madoka supplied.

"More likely to react to our presence, perhaps," Lin guessed. "And easy to provoke – we should expect more unplanned attacks than methodical ones."

"Yet the new owners keep falling down the front stairs," Naru noted, remembering yesterday's video conference with the couple. "That is a methodical attack." He would rather have interviewed the clients in person, but they were hiding out in York until the house was deemed safe.

"I don't think _methodical_ is the right word to describe these guys," Mai contested, eyes still closed. "The energies keep… changing. One minute the angry one is stronger, the next minute the excited one takes over."

"Excited?" Yasuhara reiterated quizzically. "Excited, like happy? Maybe that's where the laughing comes in?"

"I – I'm not sure," Mai admitted. "I can't tell, the levels keep… winging up and down." She bit her lip. "I mean, I know I'm not the best medium, but if I can't sense a spirit properly, it's either hiding or weak. To feel such strong emotions and not be able to find the spirits they belong to is… weird."

"Maybe they're hollow spirits?" Yasuhara suggested. "You always have issues with finding those."

"No," Mai answered decisively, opening her eyes and scanning the front hall. "I have trouble with hollow spirits because their own feelings are weak. But I can practically _taste_ the emotions in this house. I just can't find the spirits that go with them."

"Try getting closer to the site of the incidents." Madoka pointed to a half-restored great stairway.

Mai nodded and stepped gingerly toward the staircase. She could tell it would be beautiful once finished, but right now it was pretty dirty. Some of the stairs were warped, the wood of the railing was worn down, and Mai could see _someone tumbling down the steps._ "No!" she yelled, taking off towards the terrified-looking young man. She reached the foot of the stairs in seconds, but...

There was nobody there.

The staircase – and the floor beneath it – was empty and still. Mai stopped short and looked over every step. Nothing.

Quick footsteps sounded behind her and Mai's peripheral vision caught Naru skidding to a halt. "What did you see?" he asked.

"A man falling down the stairs," she replied readily, still examining the area with practiced eyes. "There's nothing there now, but… I didn't even feel it coming. I don't think it was a full-on vision – I usually pass out for those. And I couldn't sense the ghosts, either. I… I'm not sure what that was." She turned to face Naru as she spoke, trepidation in her voice and gaze.

The steadiness of Naru's intense regard eased Mai's nerves right off - if _he_ wasn't worried, it was probably alright. She grinned as a familiar look of interest crossed his face. _It's puzzle-solving time!_

And it definitely was – the yellowing streams of sunlight slanting through the windows told Mai that SPR only had about an hour of good light left. "We should start setting up the cameras," she told Naru matter-of-factly.

He only raised an eyebrow, sapphire eyes faintly amused.

_Damn, he looked good_, Mai thought involuntarily. Naru was only more attractive close up. She could feel a blush trickling up her face and abruptly broke eye contact. Race-walking back to the group, Mai avoided everyone's eyes and grabbed a camera. "I say we split into two groups," she continued in a no-nonsense voice, nudging Yasuhara. "Yasu and I will set up the cameras and everybody else can work on the base. And _nobody_ goes near those stairs alone," she finished firmly. Mai pushed her smirking best friend into the nearest room and handed him a tripod to set up.

"Smooth, Mai-chan," Yasu whispered teasingly. "Instead of turning into a fluttery mess, you went all commanding and firm – Big Boss must be rubbing off on you."

Belatedly, the teen psychic realized that she'd gone into Lead Investigator Mode and ordered her superiors around. Mai popped her head back into the front hall and gave her new boss a contrite look. "Sorry, Madoka-san, didn't mean to get... you know."

"You're looking for 'commanding and firm,'" Yasuhara supplied loudly, pushing his glasses up his nose.

Madoka just grinned. "We've got more bosses than assistants on this team, don't we?"

She was right, of course – out of the five current team members, three had 'lead investigator' on their resumes. Mai shrugged dismissively. "Yeah, maybe… but I think you and Naru are more suited for the job than I am. Like I said, I'm in charge of TTMPI by default." Mai smiled at Madoka. "So, Boss, what do _you_ think we should do?"

The master ghost hunter didn't miss a beat. "We should split into two groups. You and Yasu set up cameras and we'll start moving supplies into the base. And nobody goes near the stairs alone."

Mai flushed at the repetition of her own earlier orders. "O-of course."

Madoka smiled encouragingly. She often found Mai's humility refreshing – especially in a group which included Naru, Yasuhara, and yes, herself. But Mai needed to understand that she was just as capable a leader. "Good. Now let's get to work."

-0O0-

As he hefted a computer monitor out of the van, Naru mentally replayed the events of the last few minutes. Watching Mai behave like a lead investigator was still strange for him. But... it didn't quite feel _wrong_, either. As much as it rankled to admit, Mai obviously knew what she was doing.

She didn't have as much experience as Madoka or himself, but was quite devoted to learning the craft. He was actually impressed with the amount of material she'd chewed through this summer. Not to mention, Mai's powers gave her a special deductive edge. From what he'd heard, Mai's myriad abilities had greatly contributed to the success of TTMPI. Smirking slightly, Naru wondered what TTMPI cases were actually like. He tried to imagine what Japan's SPR would have been like without Lin or himself...

The visions he came up with were terrifying. Naru made a mental note to ask Mai more about it at a later date.

-0O0-

Mai was relieved to retreat to the hotel. It had been a long day, and she was beat - fifteen cameras set up, followed by thermometer readings and microphone checks.

And despite her best efforts, Mai simply couldn't find the ghosts. It was _maddening_. She could feel anger, pain, and excitement as strongly as if the emotions were her own – but she couldn't locate any spirits.

Eventually, Madoka suggested that the spirits might be those of recently deceased people, which could explain the lack of a cohesive presence. Since it often took time for a ghost to fully 'coagulate' (as Martin had once described it), it was possible that these spirits hadn't quite mastered the ability to manifest.

Lin tentatively agreed, citing the research – the house had been abandoned before their restoration-happy clients bought it, and there were reports that teenagers periodically broke in to party inside. "Perhaps something _unfortunate_ happened to a couple of them," Lin had said meaningfully. He had obviously been referring to the fate of the teen who'd wandered off in Urado's mansion.

So Yasuhara had offered to head down to the local library. Tomorrow, he'd look through accounts of all disappearances in the area between the departure of the last owners and the arrival of the new ones.

Naru had declared it the most likely explanation (as of yet).

Mai had nodded along with everyone else, but privately thought otherwise. There was something vaguely… ancient about the emotions in the house. Well, maybe not _ancient_, but certainly not_ recent_, either. She wasn't quite sure how to describe it. She wasn't quite sure of anything on this case. Mai resolved to talk it over with Gene tonight – she knew he was waiting for her, in the realm of lingering spirits.

After three years of psychic dreaming, Mai could tell that at least some of her sleepiness was caused by Gene pulling on her consciousness. He wanted to talk to her. Well, she wanted to talk to him, too, and not just about the case – Naru's gaze was looking less observational and more suspicious by the day. If he was on to them, she and Gene needed a new plan immediately.

_But I'll be hooked up to electrodes for the duration of the case,_ Mai remembered with a groan. After getting over the initial fear of SPR seeing something in her regular dreams, Mai had realized that her psychic dreams were just as problematic. She did, after all, secretly meet with Gene in dreams. He usually showed up at least once during a case (even if it was only to chat).

Madoka had assured Mai that the electrodes couldn't identify people (or sneaky spirits) in her dreams, but a wary Naru would definitely pick up on anything fishy. Mai bit her lip – they might have to sacrifice something to keep the Big Secret a secret...

Staring hard at the nightshirt and pajama pants she'd pulled from her suitcase, an idea popped into Mai's head. _ Maybe…_ _I should go to sleep right now_. In her clothes, so it would look like an accident. Then Mai could talk to Gene _before_ the electrodes were transmitting her thoughts and dreams to SPR!

Plan hatched, Mai tossed her pajamas back into the suitcase and started to close it – before realizing that she should probably re-pack the rest of her stuff, too. Then it would look like she'd been too tired to do anything but fall onto the bed. Mai quickly collected her cell phone charger and brush from the dresser, and a book from the bedside table. She threw everything into the suitcase and yanked the zipper shut. Then she lay down on the bed (tucking her arms under the pillow just in case _someone_ got any funny ideas about the scars).

_The bed isn't the comfiest_, Mai noted with a groan – she'd apparently been spoiled by Ayako and Luella. She rolled over a couple of times before finding a decent soft spot to snuggle into. Mai closed her eyes, breathed rhythmically, and allowed the pull on her mind to yank her into unconsciousness.

-0O0-

"Mai-chan?" came a voice somewhere above her. The teen opened her eyes to a familiar scene. A backdrop of blackness with no visible solid ground. White lights all around her, edging upwards as if caught in the flow of a slow river. She was back in the realm of lingering spirits.

Then a shadow blocked out a chunk of the dream-space. Gene offered her a hand, and Mai took it. As he pulled her upright, the world swam around her - she was dizzy, as usual. Mai blinked until Naru's deceased twin came into sharper focus.

Then she got right down to business. "Gene, I think we've got a problem," Mai told him seriously. "I think Naru's suspicious. And now they want to measure my brainwaves with electrodes to get data on my psychic dreaming. What if my coming here to meet you shows up in the scan?"

Gene gave her a knowing look. "It _will_, Mai-chan – but not in the way you fear. Your being here requires the use of a different psychic power than the electrodes are testing for. To come _here_, you use astral projection."

"Right," Mai said, confused. She knew she was projecting right now. "What does that matter?"

"You aren't in your body right now," Gene explained. "The machine reading your brainwaves wouldn't be getting anything besides your normal sleep rhythms. You aren't really_ there_ right now, you see."

"Oh!" Mai understood. The electrodes couldn't pick up on Mai's thoughts if her thoughts were outside her body.

"However," Gene cautioned, "The almost complete lack of activity will be a result in itself. There is no way that Naru and the others won't realize the significance. They know that astral projection is one of your powers."

"Well, I don't have the electrodes on right now," Mai reminded him. "Just in case they could tell I was visiting with you, I fell asleep before bedtime on purpose. I figured we could hash out a strategy now."

Gene grinned proudly. "Good thinking, Mai-chan," he asserted. "But we might not need to worry about it for a bit. I don't think I'll need to contact you about this case again – the haunting is pretty straightforward. He was obviously crazy, likely manic in life – and it only worsened after death."

Mai frowned. Was Gene talking about the angry ghost or the excited ghost?

"The tricky part will be the exorcism," Gene continued. "I'm honestly not sure what you should do on that front."

Mai frowned more deeply. For all of her abilities, she was relatively un-versed in exorcism methodology. Mai usually only directly participated in _jourei_ exorcisms, and relied on the much more experienced Bou-san and John to decide what was necessary. If they were stumped, she'd ask her spirit guide. Gene had been a capable exorcist in life, and his current bird's eye view from the spirit world usually gave him an edge with exorcism planning.

But now _he_ was stumped. "Well, that's bad," Mai said finally. "How am I going to figure it out on my own? You know I'm not the best with exorcisms."

"Well, Mai-chan, you might not need me," Gene reminded her patiently. "You're working with Noll now – also Lin and Madoka, yes?" Mai nodded. "So you should be fine. They're all very good with exorcisms, especially Lin. I'm sure you guys will figure something out." He smiled as Mai sighed in relief. "Besides, if you do need to contact me again, I'm sure you can make it seem like a normal part of the case."

"I can?" Mai looked doubtful.

"Yes. It's not like you only astral project to visit me, after all. Remember that time you went to Sakauchi's room? That wasn't a vision – you really went there. And when you saved the spirits of those children from the bus crash, you abandoned your body to talk with them."

Mai pursed her lips. "But Naru –"

"Noll _already knows_ you astral project without my intervention," Gene cut in. "You gave Masako-san that key, remember? So it would be normal for you to project – especially as you're not actually staying on the haunted property."

"Yeah, you're right." Mai grinned, suddenly feeling less urgency. She didn't need to figure out the entire case this instant. She could talk to Gene without worrying… maybe. Mai knew better than to think Naru wouldn't be suspicious anyway.

Which reminded her. "Gene," Mai said sharply, "I think that Naru is on to us. I'm not exactly sure what he's thinking, but…" She glanced up at the person who could be exactly sure what Naru was thinking.

Gene nodded glumly. "You're right, Mai-chan – he definitely is. I caught him thinking about it in the mirror. Noll didn't know I was there, and I couldn't get specifics… but he _was_ thinking about us. And he was pissed. _But_," Gene held up a hand to calm the seconds-from-freaking-out Mai, "I didn't notice anything about the transfer. No scars, no connection, nothing like that. Just you and I together. So I think it's much more likely that he suspects that you can still see me."

"Well, he's right," Mai noted grimly. "As usual."

"Hmm, Noll _is_ almost superhumanly quick on the draw," Gene mused. "I used to wonder if Noll unconsciously uses his clairvoyance to facilitate his numerous and swift intellectual leaps…" He drifted off, eyes far away. Then he felt small disturbances in the realm of lingering spirits, and returned to point. There were other auras close to Mai's now. "Right, so we'll need a plan to keep him from –"

"Gene, I don't think we can hold Naru off for much longer," Mai interrupted, her intuition ringing in her head. "I would never want to tell him… but he's _way_ too smart to fool forever. He's going to figure it out."

"But Mai-chan…"

"No, Gene, I really think we're going to have to concede something here," Mai insisted. "Come on, he's _your_ twin brother – do you really think we can string Naru along until… _whenever?_" She gave her spirit guide a significant look.

Gene held Mai's gaze, his eyes mutinous… and then slumped in defeat. "No, I don't. Sooner or later, Noll will get enough evidence to prove he's right." He sighed, frustration marring his features. "Noll is unfortunately _almost_ as single-minded an idiot scientist as ever." _Case in point_, Gene thought, _Noll observes Mai's behavior closely enough to be suspicious of her dreams, but still has no idea that Mai is in love with him_. Which, to Gene, was completely obvious. He sighed again. Noll _was_ determined not to pay attention to certain things.

However… Gene had said '_almost_ as single-minded' for a reason. Along with the suspicion, Gene sensed emotional upheaval in his brother's soul – upheaval centered on Mai. The ghostly twin grinned as he met Mai's questioning gaze. _ If anyone can get through the defensive barriers surrounding Noll's heart, it's Mai_, Gene thought with satisfaction.

"So unless you've got a better plan," Mai said, wondering at Gene's sudden attitude change, "I think we should let him figure it out. It would throw him off the scent."

"The scent?" As Gene spoke, a wave of distortion rocked the odd landscape. But instead of feeling alarmed, he grinned broadly. The wave carried a very familiar psychic signature. "Hurry and explain, Mai-chan. _Someone's_ trying to reach you."

Mai looked around, confused. "One of the ghosts?" Usually, the only entities which could access the dream-space were spirits and other astral walkers. Another wave rippled through the white lights around them.

"No, I'm pretty sure it's Noll," Gene replied, a little thrilled. This was evidence that the transfer was a complete success! Although partial proof was right in front of him (beneath Mai's ever-present gloves), the other major aspect of the transfer was less physically apparent. As there hadn't yet been a real-life test, Gene could only hope that the psychic connection between Mai and Noll was flourishing as it should be. These disturbances in the ghost world gave Gene the proof he'd been waiting for.

"It's Naru?" Mai gasped. She whipped around, searching the light-dotted blackness as if Naru were suddenly going to appear before them.

"He can't get here, Mai-chan," Gene told her calmly. "He's not an astral walker. But since he's _connected_ to you now, he can apparently access you even when you're not in your body." He smiled triumphantly.

"Oh," Mai said. So that was why her scars were burning – Naru was trying to reach her.

"Quickly, Mai-chan – your plan," Gene pressed.

"Right. I think we should just let Naru figure out that we can still talk. He's going to figure it out, anyway – and that might work to our advantage. He'll be so caught up in this," Mai gestured to the dream-space around them, "That he won't realize we're hiding something else!"

Gene raised an impressed eyebrow. "How unexpectedly sneaky of you, Mai-chan."

"Well, I am best friends with Yasu," Mai pointed out. "And he is the master of sneaky. I actually got the idea from something he pulled at school last year. Yasu managed to trick a professor into giving him a pass on missed homework and _bonus points_ on the next assignment."

"While obviously a masterful example of misdirection, I don't think Noll will give you bonus points for your efforts." Gene chuckled. "But your idea might work. And_ I_ can't think of anything better, so… have at it. It's worth keeping the transfer a secret." The world abruptly warped again – and this time, a very familiar voice rolled through the realm.

"Mai!"

It felt like Naru's voice was reverberating through Mai's soul. She could feel him _pulling_ on her, as well. It was startling, but kind of… exciting. "I think I have to wake up," she whispered. As she said this, a faint glow appeared under her gloves. Mai exchanged a glance with an obviously enthusiastic Gene.

"_Yes_, the link works!" Gene hissed happily. "Now, get out of here before that glow reaches your physical scars." As he glanced back up at Mai's face, he realized his words were unnecessary; she was already fading.

Which was new… usually, Mai had trouble getting back to her body and required his assistance. But apparently, linking with Noll could help her make it back without Gene's help.

At this thought, Gene swallowed a sense of loss – _he_ was Mai's spirit guide, after all. _But_, he reminded himself, _this was what the transfer was for_. Noll and Mai were meant to work together now. They would need to be ready for when he couldn't help them anymore.

So Eugene Davis took a deep breath, and waved to Mai as she disappeared.

-0O0-

Lin and Naru hauled the electroencephalogram equipment up the hotel stairs. Madoka followed behind them, looking over the data that Martin recorded earlier in the day. The head of SPR had helpfully included the brain scans of several other subjects (including Martin himself), against which Madoka could measure Mai's data.

"I wonder if this is the best case for an EEG test," Madoka mused aloud. "I mean, we're not even sleeping at the haunted site. Chances are, Mai-chan won't have any significant psychic visions – such occurrences are usually based on proximity to spirits, no?"

Oliver made a huffing noise which could have been a derisive snort. It could also have been an indication that he was getting tired.

"You should start an exercise regimen, Noll," Madoka suggested with mock seriousness. "Ladies aren't impressed by weaklings." She was rewarded with a frigid blue glare.

"As if I would care," Naru hissed. "It would be more productive for _you_ to start an exercise regimen… since you're apparently too feeble to help carry equipment anymore."

Madoka restrained herself from whacking Noll in the head with the files. Momentary revenge was not worth causing him to drop the equipment. "_Of course_ I can still carry the equipment, you impertinent little berk. I just want to look these scans over before we plug Mai-chan in. And since _someone_ was hogging them in the van, I have no choice but to do it now."

"You seemed perfectly fine chattering inanely about swimming and dance clubs with Mai and Yasuhara," Naru replied cuttingly.

Madoka grinned secretly. They'd barely mentioned dance clubs. But naturally that was what stuck with Noll, since it involved Mai and 'eligible guys' in the same thought. _He was so easy to read sometimes_, the master ghost hunter thought. _If only Mai could see it._ "Well, like I said – you were hogging the files. I had to do _something_ on the ride."

"And I suppose quietly reading something else – like case research, for example – would have been too cliché an endeavor."

Madoka groaned. "Noll – shut it already. You do realize you're technically smart-mouthing your _boss?_"

Naru gritted his teeth, but couldn't openly deny it.

The _boss_ sighed again. "You know, Noll, you're exceptionally edgy this evening. Not that you're not high-strung all the time, but... is there something bothering you?" Madoka's tone turned gentle.

Her former student's face changed for only a moment – but it was long enough for Madoka. She exchanged a quick glance with Lin as they trucked down the hallway.

Ignoring his now-silent companions, Naru's hands gripped the edges of the EEG machine tightly. He was _very_ interested in the results of this scan, despite the lack of proximal ghosts. In fact, Naru was _glad_ they weren't on haunted property… because any psychic dreaming Mai experienced would probably be caused by Gene. And _that_ was what Naru really wanted data on.

He'd spent the entire van ride staring at brain scans, memorizing what 'normal' versus 'psychic nightmare' looked like. Then he'd tried to imagine what a 'regular psychic dream in which Mai meets Gene' would look like on scan paper. Perhaps the waves from her temporal lobe would suddenly increase in frequency – indicating that Mai was talking to someone in her sleep. Perhaps she would show activity in the hippocampus of her brain – which would suggest usage of psychic powers, but not point to any specific ability.

As a dedicated researcher, Naru would thoroughly analyze _any_ results. But as Gene's concerned twin and Mai's… friend, Naru wanted this test to provide some particular answers.

Ergo, Naru's disappointment was evident on his face when they entered the room and took in the already-sleeping form of Mai Taniyama. Naru heaved an irritated sigh. Normally, he would just order Lin to roll her over and continue the experiment as planned. But there was no way that Madoka would let them. Martin had drilled 'willing experimentees only' into her head from day one.

"Oh, well," she said from behind him. "I guess the experiment will have to wait until tomorrow."

Naru decided it was worth the fight. "Not necessarily," he replied slowly, trying to keep his tone as normal as possible. "We could attach the electrodes anyway."

"Excuse me, Noll?" Madoka asked angrily. "Willing experimentees _only_."

_She even used his father's exact words_. Naru rolled his eyes and turned to face his mentor. "Mai _is_ a willing experimentee. She already agreed to this test. I don't see why her current lack of consciousness matters."

"Someday when you get a girlfriend, Noll, you'll understand why conscious consent matters," Madoka drawled nastily. "Until then, leave the morally tenuous decisions to me. No testing tonight."

Naru twitched at the girlfriend dig (mostly because Lin seemed to find it funny enough to choke on air), and sighed with annoyance at Madoka's directive. "How unexpectedly reticent of you," he baited. "Scientific innovation often requires such measures. For example, most of the human anatomical structure was discovered through 'unconscious consent.'"

Madoka smacked her former student with a file full of brain scans. "Are you serious, Noll? Accidental discovery of organ placement while under anesthesia is _not_ the same thing as deliberate experimentation on sleeping people!"

"I was actually speaking of Leonardo da Vinci's experiments on graveyard cadavers," Noll replied, his calm voice belying his inner upset. He was not going to see any results tonight.

"Graveyard cadavers…" Madoka repeated faintly. "Noll, 'conscious consent' does not really apply to dead people."

"An interesting statement for a ghost hunter," Naru mused, now purposefully venting his frustration onto his uncooperative teacher. "We should know better than anyone that consciousness does not end with death." Naru's eyes went back to Mai. She was clearly out – no sign of movement whatsoever. Was she speaking with his still-capable-of-conscious-thought twin right now?

Suddenly, the EEG machine was ripped from his grasp. Madoka pulled it right out of Mai's room and down the hall.

"Yasu!" Naru heard her hiss. "You keep an eye on this tonight, you hear? Don't let Noll anywhere near it. He's in a strange mood tonight and might try to take advantage of Mai-chan."

Yasuhara (on monitoring duty for the night) whispered something back that made Madoka giggle. "No, unfortunately," she replied laughingly. "_That_ would be a different story."

Naru narrowed his eyes, unsure of what was being suggested, but positive it was denigrating. Lin's second cough-laugh in five minutes only reinforced this conclusion. Irritated with the lot of them, Naru moved further into Mai's room.

He narrowly avoided her unopened suitcase on the floor… she'd evidently fallen asleep before unpacking anything. Naru's eyes moved briefly over the form on the bed. Her current position supported his hypothesis – Mai was still in her day clothes and on top of the covers. Naru rolled his eyes again. Mai's sleep habits bordered on the narcoleptic.

Then again… he knew that abrupt fits of sleepiness often preceded Mai's psychic visions. If she'd fallen asleep suddenly... _perhaps_ _she was seeing something now_. Naru _almost_ asked Lin to go and distract Madoka long enough for him to hook up the EEG. If they were still in Japan, he'd have done it. But he wasn't the boss anymore, and Lin had an annoying personal allegiance to Madoka. It wouldn't work.

Naru gritted his teeth and frustratedly cast his eyes elsewhere. They locked on a toothbrush and mouthwash… and a sudden doubt sparked in his mind. As silently as possible, Naru swept into the small hotel bathroom.

Sure enough, there was a sparkly pink toothbrush on the sink. It_ could_ conceivably be Madoka's – she was abnormally fond of pink. But this toothbrush had some Japanese brand emblazoned on it (Naru still had trouble with kanji). And the mouthwash was from Japan, too. It was highly unlikely that Madoka used Japanese toiletries; she'd lived in England for so long that she actually preferred English tea to Japanese. These things had to be Mai's.

Now, it was possible that Mai had a separate bag for toiletries that she'd managed to unpack before falling asleep. Luella had one. But Naru didn't see another bag, nor did he see any foreign shampoo in the tub. Mai would have unloaded the whole bag at once, right? Then again, 'Mai' and 'sense' were sometimes mutually exclusive...

The doubt growing in his mind, Naru slipped back into the main room and hovered over Mai's suitcase. It was pulled closed – but there was a handle sticking out. _A brush handle_, he deduced. And it hadn't been sticking out when they'd unloaded the luggage earlier. Naru reached out to touch the brush… and then a movement along his periphery called his attention to the doorway.

Lin was studying him intensely. "Noll, what exactly are you doing?" he asked, a slight hint of confusion edging his normal monotone.

"Testing a hypothesis," Naru replied in his 'you're-an-idiot' voice. "Obviously."

"Obviously," Lin repeated, trying to summon Madoka back over with telepathy he knew he didn't possess. Noll really _was_ in a strange mood tonight.

Turning his back to the _onmyouji_, Naru palmed the brush handle and called upon his psychometry. He felt... sleepiness... then a bit of panic... and finally, a sudden sense of resolve. He saw a hand he recognized as Mai's throw some clothes and this very hairbrush back into an open suitcase...

Oliver Davis turned back to Mai's bed, his eyes blazing with understanding. She had started to unpack, panicked, deliberately re-packed (but forgot some toiletries) and had _then_ fallen asleep on the bed.

He gripped the handle hard. _Mai tried to make it look like she'd fallen asleep by accident_. She must have sensed an oncoming vision and wanted to avoid its becoming record via the EEG. Naru could think of only one reason for such measures. She figured her dream would be about something – or someone – she didn't want revealed.

"Noll," a stern voice called. Madoka was standing right above him. He hadn't even heard her enter the room.

"I said no testing tonight. That_ includes_ spying on people using psychometry. What is on you tonight?"

Naru didn't answer. Not only was Gene still a tender subject for everyone in the room, but Madoka's tendency to snitch rendered Naru extremely reluctant to share. Madoka was Martin's informant on all things paranormal and Luella's informant on all things personal. And Naru did _not_ want this situation getting back to his adopted parents. He hadn't even told the grieving Mrs. Davis that he could still see Gene in mirrors. And neither of his parents had any idea that Mai had ever been able to contact Gene.

And though Madoka and Lin had supposedly kept silent on those issues, Naru didn't trust them with his current suspicions. For one, Gene's ability to psychically connect with Mai would be news too big to ignore. There was no way Martin wouldn't hear about it. And then they'd all wind up in trouble.

And two, Naru did not want Martin or Luella – Luella especially – to mentally tie Mai to the deceased Gene. Mai's happy personality and inarguably female sensibilities brought Luella Davis a noticeable amount of happiness. Luella was obviously thrilled to have Mai around, and Naru did not want that contentment diminished by a surprise association with the deeply-missed Gene.

Shaking his head to dispel the emotional thoughts, Naru concentrated on the hairbrush. He felt... an overwhelming sleepiness. Obviously, Mai was sleeping. Naru shook himself slightly. If he synced_ too_ closely, he might fall asleep as well. There was also a sense of purpose... like he/Mai wanted to go somewhere... and then Naru smacked up against a great black wall. Or more accurately, a wall of nothing.

He felt nothing.

Like Mai was _gone_.

Naru's eyes snapped open and he flew to Mai's side. There was only one reason his visions ever broke off so suddenly... He shook her violently. "Mai!" he called urgently. "Mai, wake up!" Naru grasped her shoulders and watched in mute horror as her head lolled back. His hand slid back automatically, catching and cradling Mai's lifeless head as his eyes searched her face for any flicker of movement.

Madoka and Lin were suddenly beside him. "Noll, what is it? What's wrong?" they asked at once.

"She won't wake. I can't sense anything from her. _Nothing_," Naru hissed frantically. Surely they understood the implications.

Madoka certainly did. Her hand snaked up Mai's neck and pressed down to check for a heartbeat. Naru's eyes riveted to the point of contact... and a sliver of hope snaked through him. He thought he saw Mai's skin pulsing underneath Madoka's fingers.

Naru's own fingers were clenched on Mai's shoulder and in her hair. Going against his usual principles, Naru initialized his psychometry via contact with a living person and psychically searched Mai for signs of life. He mentally threw himself against the black wall... and felt a brief spark in the nothing. "Mai!" he called again.

"Noll!" Madoka yelled from somewhere far away. "Her pulse is regular. She's okay!" Naru pulled out of the vision and looked up at his mentor's face for confirmation.

"And she's breathing," Lin informed them, sounding relieved.

Naru glanced downward, calmer now, and realized Lin was right. Mai was clearly (albeit shallowly) breathing. _How could I have missed that?_

He must have spoken aloud, because Madoka answered. "Well, you were shaking her and freaking out, so it's not surprising that you didn't notice. Especially with all the _freaking out_."

"Yes, you've mentioned that," Naru noted icily, groping blindly for his normal detachment.

"Seeing as it's so _unusual_…"

"Madoka," Naru and Lin warned simultaneously. Naru did not want to talk about his brief departure from sanity. Lin didn't think it was the time for teasing.

The master ghost hunter took the hint and changed the subject. "The question is, though – why won't she wake?"

All three SPR employees stared down at the stubbornly unconscious Mai.

"Because she's not really here," a new voice explained calmly.

Yasuhara's lips twitched as the heads of Naru, Lin and Madoka all swiveled to face him, like dogs on point. He had heard yelling and came running… to see everyone crowded around an unconscious Mai, Big Boss included. Yasuhara was going to have a lot of fun telling Mai about this tomorrow. He would be sure to dwell on Naru's relieved expression... and on the way he was holding Mai in his arms. He_ still_ hadn't let go.

"I'm sorry?" Lin finally asked for clarification (as his more verbose compatriots had seemingly lost their voices).

Yasuhara grinned. "She's fine, she's just astral projecting. Not exactly shocking, seeing as we're not on haunted premises. You see, Mai-chan dreams on almost every case – and if the ghosts aren't close by, _she_ goes to_ them_."

Across the room, Oliver Davis was internally berating himself. Astral projection. _Of course_ Mai wouldn't wake. It explained her complete lack of physical responsiveness _and_ the worrying psychic emptiness transmitted to Naru through his powers. He closed his eyes in relief he would never admit verbally. _Mai wasn't dead_, _she was just..._ "Astral projecting," Naru finished aloud, slowly depositing Mai's unconscious body back onto the bed. He speared Yasuhara with a penetrating glare. "Do you think Mai consciously called upon her projection abilities?"

"What do you mean, Big Boss?" Yasuhara asked, confused. "You know that Mai-chan's best developed skill is astral projection. She does it all the time." Naru was rather_ intense_ tonight, Yasu noticed. Was it worry?

"Yes… but I was unaware that Mai does not always _initiate_ the projection," Naru persisted, a knowing gleam in his eyes.

Yasuhara's expression became guarded. He pushed his glasses further up his nose and answered carefully. "Mai-chan is excellent at initiating an astral projection, and very good with roaming around once inside a vision. But her abilities _can_ be influenced by spirits. She is a medium, after all." _There_, Yasu thought, _that sounded confirmatory and not incriminating_.

"Can you think of any reason that Mai would be panicked or… _secretive_ about an astral projection?" Naru asked, summoning the detached-but-demanding voice he used for client interviews. He stared Yasuhara down.

_Danger, danger!_ Yasuhara fought to keep his face controlled as his mind raced. Had Naru figured it out? Ugh, he _told_ Mai they wouldn't be able to keep Gene-san a secret forever! Then Yasu remembered he had to say something. "Maybe she thought you'd be upset if she just went and talked to the ghosts? You _do _get annoyed when she does dangerous things without checking with you first. So she's secretly talking to the ghosts."

"I sincerely doubt that to be the case," Naru countered coolly. "Earlier today, Mai couldn't even positively identify the _presence_ of ghosts. I can't imagine she suddenly developed a strong enough rapport with either – supposed – apparition to find them while off-property."

Yasuhara couldn't argue with that. How were they going to get out of this one?

"Ugh, somebody get Naru some tea," Mai slurred into the bedclothes. "He sounds reaaally twitchy."

Dark blue eyes immediately swung to the slowly stirring girl on the bed.

"Hmm," Yasuhara murmured in relief. "_Impeccable_ timing, Mai-chan."

-0O0-

AN: Originally this case was going to be really short. But then I got reviews about how happy you guys are that they're on a case, so this chapter had to get re-written. So that's why it took an extra week, lol.

Also, since we're talking about Mai-as-lead-investigator again, I wanted to make sure I mentioned that I got the inspiration for that from _TPR_, by DemonHairedandBlueEyed. The story is very different, obviously, but I really liked that Mai was in charge.


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. The novels would be out in English:)  
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**Chapter 20 – Waking Up and Falling Down**

**-0O0-**

Everyone pivoted in place as Mai's eyes fluttered open. She stretched leisurely on the bed, groaning softly as she registered a dull throb in her shoulder. Had she slept on it wrong? She rolled the shoulder experimentally - and hit something warm. It was... _Naru!_

Who promptly removed himself from the bed as if it had caught fire. Oliver backed a solid three steps away before returning his gaze to the newly-alert astral walker.

Before the too-perceptive scientist could even open his mouth, Yasuhara addressed Mai. "Big Boss is wondering whether you astral projected on purpose... to go see the ghosts without telling anyone," he explained slowly, trying to warn Mai without being too obvious. He was relieved to see understanding in her eyes.

"Oh," Mai replied shortly. She forced her mind to stop wondering what Naru had been doing on her bed and instead come up with a decent excuse. "Well... yeah, I tried. It was really bugging me that I couldn't find the ghosts earlier, so I took a shot in my sleep." She shrugged with feigned nonchalance. "After three years, I can get my spirit out of my body easily enough."

"_Three_ years?" Lin asked, his eyes on Naru. His former charge was regarding Mai like he could see inside her if he stared hard enough. "I thought you started training after we returned to England."

"I did... but I could sorta do it the whole time." Mai mentally thanked Lin for continuing the conversation. Naru's suspicion-level had obviously ramped up a notch. And although Mai was prepared to concede that she could talk to Gene, she wasn't just going to blurt it out right away. That would be even _more_ suspicious. "I actually managed one deliberate astral projection before I started training."

Naru was almost impressed – Mai was trying to bait him into joining the conversation by appealing to his scientific curiosity. A well-conceived gambit, but it was not going to work...

However, Naru wasn't the only curious scientist in the room. "Are you talking about the Urado case?" Lin asked. "When you gave the key to Masako Hara?"

Naru glared at the _onmyouji_. Couldn't Lin see that there were more important subjects to discuss?

"Ah, no," Mai replied, faintly surprised. She hadn't actually_ meant_ to do that. Didn't Lin remember how she'd purified the souls of the children from the bus crash? _Hold on... of course he didn't_.

Lin and Naru were both a bit preoccupied after that case. And in the craziness that had followed the discovery of Gene's body, Mai hadn't thought to bring it up. "I was talking about the case with the ghost children," she clarified. "In order to help them move on, I had to enter the spirit world. It was much easier to talk with them that way. That was the first time I consciously astral projected."

Against his will, Naru found himself intrigued. He hadn't heard this story before. Mai had deliberately entered the spirit world to face down all of the ghost children? He had thought she'd just stumbled into the spirits the way she always did. Naru had underestimated his assistant. He _had_ been rather distracted with grief at the time, but still...

"We're really going to have to sit down with Martin again," Madoka mused. "I assumed we knew everything about the early development of your powers. Apparently, we missed some important events."

Mai could practically _feel_ Naru bristle with indignation at the implication that any of his research was less than thorough. She hurried to interrupt. "Whatever was missed, it's my fault for not saying anything," she asserted. "I, um, tend to do that."

"You most certainly do," Naru replied feelingly, his mind back on his twin. He had the satisfaction of seeing Mai flinch.

"Now, Noll, I'm sure Mai-chan didn't mean to leave out any data," Madoka said soothingly (for Mai's sake). Then she turned frosty. "So stop being ridiculous. I don't know _how_ you managed to keep any clients in Japan with that attitude! I can't imagine why an already frightened person would stay after a few minutes with you."

Mai giggled "Of course they stayed, Madoka-san." She finally managed to look into Naru's eyes. "I make good tea."

Everyone laughed, but Mai barely heard them. She kept her attention on her quarry. To her relief, Naru's glare lost its intensity and a spark of amusement flared in his eyes. Then Mai drew in a sharp breath as Naru's lips edged upwards in a brief, tiny smile.

But almost as quickly as the true smile appeared, blankness fell over Naru's face like a swiftly-drawn curtain. "We can discuss the development of your astral projection at a later date, Mai," Naru decreed, his tone brisk. "What we presently need to discuss is your disturbing propensity to _hide things_ from your team members." The intense stare returned with a vengeance.

Mai fisted her hands in the bedclothes and stared at her own socked feet. How best to approach this? Did Naru actually _know_, or was he just fishing for information?

Madoka unknowingly solved her problem. "As much as I hate to admit it, Mai-chan, Noll is right. Although I wouldn't put it in those terms... you're not_ hiding_ things, you're just not telling us everything you know."

Naru watched Mai for a reaction to this statement, and got exactly what he was waiting for – Mai flinched again. _Take that, Madoka_, he thought meanly. Mai _was_ hiding something.

Lin saw the flinch, too... and Noll's look of dark satisfaction. Apparently, Noll was expecting Mai's interesting twitch. _What exactly had he seen with his psychometry?_

Meanwhile, Madoka was in full lecture mode. The master ghost hunter threw Mai a stern look. "Mai-chan, parapsychology is a field in which danger is often the rule, not the exception. If you have information, you_ have _to tell us." Mai opened her mouth, but Madoka held up a silencing hand. "You are a researcher-in-training, yes?" Mai nodded. "How accurate would the results be if your subject left important things out of the data?"

The transfer student pressed her lips together and looked away. "Not very accurate." She wrung her hands. "Maybe useless."

Madoka sighed. "Not _useless_, Mai-chan," she assured, noticing the tears welling in Mai's eyes. "But certainly not as complete as they could be. Listen, I'm not talking about explaining your powers. I know – and Martin knows – that two years of development is a lot to remember and describe. We expect you to forget some stuff. It's not like you're leaving anytime soon, so when something comes back to you, share it. However..." And here the stern stare returned. "Not sharing information pertinent to the case is a different story. Even if it seems unimportant, you need to tell us _everything_."

"I understand," Mai agreed, still looking down. She seemed to come to a decision, and her eyes snapped up to stare into Madoka's. "Then I should tell you that I disagree with the ghosts having died recently. I don't have any evidence to back it up... but I think the ghosts died a long time ago."

"And why is that?" the master ghost hunter prodded.

"The emotions in the house... feel old," Mai explained. "Like something... stagnant, left, and... built up over time."

"Kind of like the house itself," Yasuhara offered. "Abandoned, dust piling up." His eyes lit up. "You don't think that the house itself has some kind of hex on it, do you? One that gives it feelings or something?"

"An anthropomorphized house?" Naru clarified, momentarily distracted from watching Mai. That _would_ be interesting.

But Mai shook her head. "No, the emotions feel very _human_. Twisted, obviously, but human. And besides..." Gene had said it was ghosts.

"Besides what, Taniyama-san?" Lin prompted.

"I... just think it's ghosts. I told you, no evidence yet. But..." she wrung her hands, groping blindly for something to say.

Yasuhara jumped in. "We'll just have to _find_ the evidence, Mai-chan. I'll focus on older house history tomorrow at the library... and look in older newspapers." Yasuhara figured that Gene had confirmed the presence of spirits – but Mai was still in secret-mode. And she sucked at lying, so Yasu covered for her again. It didn't look like his sneaky-services would be necessary for much longer, though – Naru looked smugger than the cat that caught the canary.

"Then you didn't actually see the ghosts when you projected?" Lin asked, his tone curious.

"Um, no," Mai replied shakily. Then she grinned. "Naru interrupted me."

The accused interloper only growled under his breath.

But Yasuhara sidled closer to Mai and nudged her. "Boy did he ever interrupt, Mai-chan," Yasu whispered excitedly. "I'll tell you _all_ about it tomorrow."

"Aren't you supposed to be on base duty?" Naru questioned acidly. The grin on Yasuhara's face clearly required immediate intervention.

"Of course, Big Boss," Yasuhara replied jubilantly. "Now that the _drama_ is over, I'll return to my enthralling session of monitor-watching." He practically skipped out the door.

Mai giggled – until Naru cleared his throat loudly. She swung back to face him and met the patented Investigative Stare.

"Did you gain any other nuggets of wisdom from... your projection?" Naru asked, his pause intentional. Mai's fingers tightened on the bedspread beneath her – the only outward sign of stress.

"Yes..." she said carefully. "The ghost was crazy when he was alive, and it's only worse now."

Naru opened his mouth again, but Madoka spoke first.

"That's excellent work, Mai-chan. We can expand our search to include records of local insanity cases."

"Sounds great," Mai said with a smile. Then a wave of dizziness came over her, and she collapsed back onto the pillow.

"Are you alright, Taniyama-san?" Lin asked solicitously.

"Yeah," she slurred. "Just tired. I don't really sleep when I'm projecting... my mind's still awake. And since..." she broke off to yawn. "Mm, sorry... since it requires using a lot of psychic energy, I'm actually _more_ tired afterwards." She felt her belt digging into her hip. _Ugh, clothes_. Groaning, Mai forced herself back into a sitting position. "Come on, Mai," she told herself out loud. "You are changing into pajamas before bed. Sleeping in clothes is not comfortable."

"Too right, Mai-chan," Madoka enthused. "So boys… get out. And we'll start the electrode experiment _tomorrow_," she added, throwing a glare at Noll.

He glared right back. "Fine," Naru hissed. The incident he was interested in had likely already occurred.

"It's okay, guys," Mai said brightly. "You can put them on now."

Now Naru was sure that Mai had already seen Gene. She wouldn't be so willing otherwise.

"Do you normally have more than one major psychic episode a night?" Madoka asked.

Mai considered. "No... and I don't feel like there's a vision coming on. I think I have to spend more time at the house," she told her boss. "I'm not as... connected to the case as I could be."

"Well, we'll be there all day tomorrow," Madoka informed her. "And I'd rather you be well-rested for it, so no electrodes tonight."

"Great!" Mai trilled. No icky gunk on her forehead and chest. "Then let's go to bed! Er... again."

Naru felt a moment of warmth as he took in Mai's happy smile. Then he recovered his sanity (lost for the second time in one night) and stalked out the door.

-0O0-

Mai sighed. Despite the long hours on location, she was having trouble making sense of this case. At the moment, she felt no ghosts, no crazy emotions, and barely a creepy feeling.

And it wasn't like nothing had happened overnight – there had been weird laughter recorded on several of the microphones. Two cameras had been knocked over (with no sign of ground subsidence in the area), and the microphone that they'd set up at the top of the stairs was found at the bottom, in pieces.

Most of the morning was spent logging all places where scratch marks had been found. The marks were especially prevalent along the main stairs and in one upstairs bedroom.

It was probably not a coincidence that the marked-up bedroom was one of the only locations in which Mai had felt something shiver-inducing. Upon entering the room, strong anger and terror had accosted her senses... but both faded almost immediately.

What didn't fade were the awful moaning sounds that seemed to reverberate through the gutted room.

The teen psychic shivered again just thinking about it. No matter how many of these cases she worked, disembodied noises still made her hair stand on end. She preferred actually seeing ghosts to simply hearing creepy sounds. She had no idea how hunters without the ability to see spirits managed without freaking out all the time.

The only other significant spiritual disturbance happened about an hour ago – when Madoka had taken Lin's hand and pulled him into base. A step behind them, Mai had been overcome by a great wave of fear; she'd actually swooned in place and dropped to her knees on the unvarnished floor. Lin's feet had appeared in front of her, and Mai heard his low voice asking if she was alright. It had been a few moments before she could answer.

Even now Mai's legs felt a little like vibrating rubber bands. Taut, twanged and not steady enough by half. Which was probably why she was slumped against the wall, resting.

_Let me out!_

"What?" Mai gasped. It was a voice – a young man's voice... and given the lack of new activity in base, it had not been heard by Lin.

_Let me out!_

"Let you out of where? Where are you?" Mai asked the air. She was just outside the base, down the hall from the scary stairway. Naru and Madoka were setting a camera up outside; apparently, the neighbors behind the house had seen a white figure standing at the window (in the bedroom with the scratches).

_LET ME OUT! _

"Of where?" Mai asked urgently. She looked all over the hallway, but saw nothing out of place. She searched along the hall at her (sitting) eye-level – and noticed more scratches. Little white lines in the wall, right near the floor. That was odd.

Mai shifted her weight and crawled across the hallway, reaching into her 'equipment belt' for her flashlight. She studied the markings, the white beam of her torch following the line of scratches back towards the stairway.

The fingers of Mai's unoccupied hand caught in a groove along the floor... and her whole hand started tingling. _Nothing to worry about_, she told herself. _Maybe I just twisted something_. Even as she said it, her ears rang with the clanging of her spiritual instincts.

Sure enough, when Mai looked down, her fingers were tracing a little white line. And there were four other lines right near it – as if someone's fingernails had clawed at the floor. Just like the other markings. Mai bit her lip. Why were these on the floor? The marks they'd already catalogued were all located much higher on the wall.

_Perhaps these are different_, Mai conjectured. _Maybe they were just furniture-moving marks or something._ She could almost hear her instincts scoffing at this thought. These marks were caused by the ghosts. And it was probably significant that their location differed from the rest.

Biting her lip again, Mai twisted around to call for Lin. She needed a camera and a red pushpin to mark the spot. But as she moved, her right glove caught on something that pulled on the silken fabric. Mai swore softly and turned back to free herself –

_Riiip_.

"Of course," the annoyed psychic muttered. One of the little holes in her gloves was now a much bigger hole, thanks to an ill-placed sliver of wood. Mai pulled it free... and her newly-uncovered finger slid across one of the white scratches on the floor.

_LET ME OUUUUT! LET ME OUUUT!_

BANG!

A loud noise sounded from upstairs – Mai pictured a door flying open in her head.

She tried to get up... but her hand was stuck fast to the floor.

_YOU CAN'T STOP ME! I WON'T! I WON'T GO BACK!_

"Lin!" Mai called. Her voice came out all squeaky.

_I WON'T! I WON'T! LET ME... NOOOOOOOOOO!_

Mai sucked in a breath and pulled frantically on her stuck finger – the scratches all around her had started glowing.

Wait... glowing! Mai could glow, too! _Time to fight back_, she thought with a grin. Mai closed her eyes and funneled PK-MT into her bare finger. In the darkness of the hallway, Mai could barely see the golden glow of her powers lighting up the scars. Warmth slid down her arms, into her hands, and finally into her stuck-fast finger. She felt a brief spark... and her hand flew upwards, free.

A tremendous crash sounded above her head, and Mai ran blindly towards the staircase. She knew that was where to go. Heedless of her own directive not to climb the stairs alone, Mai raced up the steps and onto the landing. Experienced eyes searched the hall - nothing.

Half disappointed, half relieved, Mai exhaled a deep breath and collapsed against the top of the landing's railing. It was… cold? Even under her gloves, Mai could feel the chill. But the staircase rail was made out of wood...

And then Mai realized that she was catching her breath in the worst possible place – and she was alone. Pressing her lips together and trying not to breathe too loudly, Mai edged away from the rail and looked behind her. Still nothing. Well, some dust motes floating in the air, but the upstairs hallway appeared ghost-free.

She should still get out of here immediately. After all –

_They did this to me!_

"What?" Mai spun in place.

_They did THIS to me! _

"Did what?" Mai asked tremulously. She still couldn't see anything.

Then a slow, thick cold touched her neck... and edged around her shoulders. Danger senses screaming, Mai stepped slowly away from the landing...

An intense wave of rage walloped Mai from behind, and her hands clapped her ears as incomprehensible shrieks rang out from all sides. Dizzy from the multi-sensory onslaught, Mai barely sensed the thoroughly angry presence behind her.

Until a cold hand hit her hard in the back.

The push launched her right off the landing and Mai tumbled downward. There was nothing safe to catch on to, so Mai threw her arms forward and hoped for the best.

WHAM! The impact knocked the breath out of her. It took the dazed psychic a moment to feel a sharp, burning pain in her leg. She glanced at it, confused – hadn't she landed on her hands? – before she saw it. Blood everywhere, oozing out of a rip in her jeans. Mai looked up to see a nasty-looking nail sticking out of the last stair she'd hit on the way down. It was bloody. Great.

Her movements made the bleeding worse... head spinning slightly, Mai rushed to stanch the blood flow. She pulled her sweater over her head, groaning as various aches and pains made themselves known. Her arms ached something awful. She'd definitely be covered in bruises tomorrow. Wrapping the injured leg with nimble fingers (one of which might be dislocated, she noted grimly), Mai shivered in the chilly air. She should have worn a full second shirt under the sweater, instead of a tank top. She also should have called for Lin before running off to meet a ghost. Mai grimaced – Naru was going to be _pissed_.

To finish her make-shift tourniquet, Mai tied off her sweater, and then searched her belt for her walkie-talkie. But of course, it wasn't on her belt. Mai's eyes searched the stairway and spied the communicator lying about halfway up... about two steps lower than the nastily-grinning ghost.

"_Ai!_" Mai scrambled backwards, whimpering in pain. She'd been so caught up in her injury that she'd neglected its cause! The ghost followed, floating slowly down the stairs – eyes on Mai, psychotic-looking smile widening. _Why is it always me?_ Mai asked herself. The answer popped into her mind a moment later. _Because my aura calls out to spirits... so HIDE!_

Though the last thing Mai wanted to do was close her eyes, she needed to concentrate. Mai scrunched her eyelids shut and forced herself to relax. She breathed in deeply, and with each breath, she pulled her bright aura inside herself.

She could still feel the ghost edging forward. _Just a few more seconds..._

Mai envisioned the Great Wall of China stretching along her skin, encasing her body and separating her spirit from the outside world. Her mental wall snapped into place - and Mai opened her eyes to see nothing in front of her.

This was the most problematic feature of her aura manipulation skills. Mai couldn't see or feel the ghost – and therefore couldn't be sure that the aura-hiding was working. She refused to move, either, just in case. Mai waited long moments for something to happen, barely breathing.

Suddenly, the floor cracked open. The epicenter of the crack was only steps away – meaning that the spirit was practically on top of her. The floor split again, spreading backwards towards the stairs. Mai felt a shudder beneath her and heard the walls creak. _A temper tantrum_, Mai realized – the ghost couldn't find her and was releasing its rage.

Or hoping to smoke her out.

So Mai held her breath, hoping that somebody in base noticed the not-so-subtle room-shaking going on. She could use some help right about now. Mai couldn't even try to exorcise the ghost while hiding her aura... plus, she was still bleeding pretty badly.

She almost moaned in relief at the sound of feet running towards her. Mai twisted in place to see Naru, Madoka _and_ Lin all come barreling into the room. Mai's eyes, of course, went straight to Naru – who she was shocked to see looked quite panicked (never mind what Yasu had told her this morning, he was obviously being silly). Naru made a beeline for her as Lin whistled for his _shiki_.

"It's near the staircase!" Mai called to her rescuers, not sure if they could see the ghost. Then _something_ whooshed by, followed by an angry male scream. Mai dropped her barriers in time to see a _shiki_ ram its way through the seriously pissed ghost. The spirit glared at Mai as it broke apart and disappeared.

"Well, if it didn't have it in for me _before..._" Mai trailed off, giggling despite the situation. The adrenaline pumping through her must be making her giddy.

_Or maybe it's the loss of blood_, she thought absently, watching the red liquid spread slowly into the fabric of her sweater. Ugh, it must have loosened when she was trying to escape from the ghost. Mai reached down to adjust it, but a long-fingered hand knocked her hand away.

"Don't touch it,_ baka_," Naru hissed into her ear. Mai glanced sideways to find his face inches from her own. Envisioning the last time they'd been so close, Mai felt her face flush.

A smirk touched Naru's lips. "I suppose you can't be bleeding out if you can still blush," he noted matter-of-factly.

"Narcissist!" Mai yelled, slapping him lightly on the arm.

Naru raised a surprised eyebrow. She'd only ever hit him once before. Apparently, that damned kiss on the cheek had permanently deactivated the 'only in emergencies' touch barrier between himself and Mai. "Taking a cue from Matsuzaki?" he asked, torn between annoyance and amusement.

"Get me a purse and you'll find out," she retorted lightly, surprising him again. Naru's lips twitched.

"Hate to break up the moment, guys, but we should probably get you to hospital, Mai-chan." A shadow moved over the two on the floor, and Mai looked up into the amused eyes of Madoka Mori.

Naru scowled at his mentor... until he processed the word 'hospital.' Looking down at Mai's leg, he couldn't disagree. "Lin, help me with Mai," he barked.

"Was the spirit standing there when you came in?" Mai asked, pointing at the center of the floor-cracks.

"Yes," Lin replied, raising an eyebrow. "Couldn't you see it?"

"No, I was hiding my aura. I can't see ghosts when I'm doing it. It's one of the reasons I'm trying to develop the 'holes' technique – so I don't have to fly blind."

"It worked," Naru noted dispassionately as he and Lin hefted Mai off the floor. "The ghost looked rather lost when we came in." Naru walked backwards out into the front hall, his arms under Mai's. Lin carried Mai's legs, holding the injured one higher in the air.

Mai giggled, feeling distinctly lightheaded. "I hope we got video of that," she said. "That guy was an _asshole_. Pushed me down the stairs."

Oliver Davis felt Mai giggle, as much of her back was flush against his chest. Unused to such close contact, Naru felt a bit restless. Goosebumps prickled on the skin of his shoulder where Mai's head nestled against him.

"And none of us noticed," Madoka groused from beside Mai. "I don't know how we all missed it."

"It's okay, Madoka," Mai sighed, watching her vision warp a bit. "It's my fault, really. Besides... I didn't break anything. My leg got cut on a nail on the way down... but I have my tetanus shot! I got one after I fell on that pipe, and that was only last year…" Mai trailed off, truly woozy. "_I think I'm gonna pass out_," she mumbled, unaware that she'd switched to Japanese again.

"_I noticed_," Naru replied in the same language.

"_Of course you did_," Mai giggled drowsily. "_You notice EVERYTHING. Well, except CERTAIN things. But that might be good..."_

"_What might be good_?" Naru asked, narrowing his eyes.

"_That you don't notice_," Mai replied uselessly. Lin and Madoka exchanged a secret glance.

"_Don't notice WHAT?_" an increasingly frustrated Naru almost yelled. Then his back hit the house's front door, and he gripped Mai's body tightly to keep from dropping her. His fingers dug into one of the tender spots along her ribcage and Mai hissed in pain.

"_Oouuch, Naru. I fell on that_."

Her former boss gritted his teeth as Madoka edged around them and opened the door. Naru and Lin bundled Mai outside and into the backseat of the SPR van.

Then Naru froze – Mai had finally fallen unconscious. _Someone should sit in the back with her_, he reckoned. He stood there, undecided, for a moment – before Madoka bustled him out of the way.

The master ghost hunter pushed Noll toward her usual seat. Normally, Madoka would have let Noll hem and haw until he eventually climbed into the back with Mai, but they had to get moving. "Go sit up front and call your parents," Madoka ordered. She slid into the backseat and lifted Mai's head onto her lap.

Naru almost flew into the front seat, Lin started the van, doors slammed, and they set off for the hospital.

-0O0-

"So, yeah... finger, leg, brief fainting fit, and maybe a couple of ribs," Mai summarized. After all the hospital trips, she was very good at injury assessment.

"Yes... Miss Taniyama, how exactly did you sustain these injuries?" the on-call doctor asked.

Mai gritted her teeth. This was the third doctor who had asked this question. Apparently, they thought she was lying about falling down a flight of stairs. She missed her understanding nurses in Tokyo.

The man eyed her beadily for a moment before making a mark on his clipboard. "Well, we'll get your leg stitched up... and you'll probably need your ribs taped. And definitely something for that finger. Could you please remove the glove?"

Damn. Mai hadn't thought about that. Good thing she was alone right now – apparently there was some insurance coverage drama going on. It was a work accident, so Madoka said that SPR would cover the hospital bill – but Mai's paperwork was missing. Naru and Lin had gone back to the hotel to look for it. Madoka was currently arguing with the front desk.

But they'd be back eventually...

"Um, I have some..."

"Scars, yes," the doctor said dispassionately. "Your boss said you'd be edgy about them."

"Well, they are nasty looking," Mai replied, as brightly as she could manage. They probably thought she was a self-harmer or something. "So how about we do this..."

-0O0-

Mai's face broke into a huge grin upon seeing Madoka waltz into the emergency room. "Oh, _please_ tell me you're here to spring me!" She clasped her hands together in a supplicating gesture.

Her new boss laughed. "I am indeed, Mai-chan. Just need to fill out some more paperwork and we'll be on our way. How are your stitches holding up?"

"They're looking pretty good," Mai replied, examining her sewn-up slice with a fairly professional eye. After countless falls, scrapes, and run-ins with angry spirits, Mai had a good eye for stitch-work. "The tape on my ribs feels pretty solid, too."

"What about the splint?" Madoka queried, glancing at Mai's most obvious medical decoration. Something about it was strange...

Mai sighed, glaring down at her right hand. Her first guess had been right – slight dislocation. The apparently fragile digit was ensconced in layers of tape and gauze, and topped with a very annoying finger splint. "I hate splints," she muttered. "It's just the one finger, but this stupid thing is so unwieldly that it gets in the way of _everything_."

The master ghost hunter fell over the bed laughing.

Mai tutted with exasperation. "I'm glad you find my pain funny."

"I find most things funny, Mai-chan," Madoka drawled. "You're just usually in a better mood. Your current attitude is distressingly reminiscent of Noll's."

"I'm acting like Naru? That's funny, I don't _think_ a stick went up my ass when I landed," Mai huffed – and then she noticed Madoka's jaw drop and realized she'd spoken aloud. "I – I'm sorry, it's the drugs! They haven't completely worn off yet."

Madoka snorted into the paperwork, practically crying. "Don't even think about apologizing, Mai-chan - that was _hilarious!_ Every time Noll starts in, I'm going to repeat that phrase in my head..."

"No, don't!" Mai pleaded. "You'll wind up telling Naru what I said, and then I'll have Blue Laser Beams of Doom thrown my way until I combust!"

"_Blue Laser Beams of Doom?_" Madoka gasped, hysterical. "You should be on drugs more often."

"No way," Mai groaned. "Who knows what I'd end up saying to Naru?"

"Hmm," Madoka replied simply, eyes sparkling. "I can only imagine."

Her eyes drifted down to Mai's splint again... "Oh, _that's_ what looks weird about it!" she cried. "I can see your hand!" Mai wasn't wearing a glove on her right hand. Surreptitiously, Madoka glanced at the edge of Mai's robe... but couldn't see any scars.

Grinning victoriously, Mai pulled up the sleeve of her 'hospital trips' robe to reveal a black-gloved arm. "I told them they could cut the hand part off," she explained. "My_ arm_ isn't injured, so they didn't need to remove the _whole_ glove."

"So you let them _ruin_ your glove... to avoid the possibility that someone might catch a glimpse of your wrist?" Madoka asked incredulously.

"Well, I have lots of gloves," Mai said flippantly. "Besides, I'll have to wear it like this for a couple of days, thanks to the splint. Lucky it was only a slight dislocation – I once had to wear a toe splint for two weeks. I almost re-broke it out of frustration."

"You know, Mai-chan..." Madoka said slowly, "_Somebody_ is going to see those scars _someday_."

"Hmm," Mai replied dismissively, pulling out some case research she'd begged off of Yasuhara (who had also brought her 'hospital trips' robe up to the emergency room).

This did not deter Madoka. "I mean, you want a boyfriend someday, yes? Being naked doesn't involve gloves."

"Whaaa?" Mai's eyes bugged, a hand over her heart. "Yikes, sometimes you're as bad as Yasu, Madoka-san..."

"I'm not bad, I'm _realistic_. I think it would really freak Koujo out if I insisted on wearing gloves in bed."

Cue flailing fit. "Ugh!" Mai cried. "Horrible mental images! Someone get me some bleach to pour in my ears!"

"Don't say that too loudly, Mai-chan. If they think you're suicidal, you'll have to stay overnight. In the crazy wing."

"Worth it," Mai replied firmly. "Ugh, Lin-san in any kind of _bed_ situation..." she gagged.

"Hey, that's my boyfriend you're disparaging! My _handsome_ boyfriend."

"I'm not arguing attractiveness, it's just... Lin-san is _Lin-san_."

Madoka grinned. "I guess that makes sense. And good to know there's no competition."

Mai gave her a dead-eyed stare. "_Of course not_." Then she grinned mischievously. "Ayako thinks he's hot, though. I remember her being disappointed that Lin-san wasn't there on the case where we paired off in fake couples." She had the satisfaction of seeing the usually-imperturbable Madoka straighten right up in the visitor's chair. Her mouth worked for a second, no sound coming out.

Too soft-hearted to prolong the agony, Mai rushed to qualify her statement. "But it doesn't matter, since Ayako's in love with Bou-san," she reminded the ghost hunter. "And they're, you know, _engaged_."

Madoka raised an eyebrow. "Yes, Mai-chan, I know. And I'm not worried – _I always play to win." _The ghost hunter smiled a smile that made Mai realize she never wanted to be on Madoka Mori's bad side. Suppressing a shiver, Mai decided it was time for a subject change. "So how about getting me out of here?"

"You need to work on your segues," Madoka mused. "And hang on a moment, I've misplaced the paperwork... ah, here we are." She winked. "Only two more pages to fill out and we're home free."

"Finally," Mai groused. The case was probably going to be solved by the time they returned to the house.

"Oh, nooo," Madoka groaned. "I forgot to write down our insurance carrier's address. Mai-chan, can you call Noll for me?"

"Huh?"

"Call Noll and ask him for the address," Madoka repeated, pointing at Mai's cell phone.

"But I don't... oh! I'll call Yasu!" Mai pressed '5' on her keypad and waited for Yasuhara to pick up. She didn't notice Madoka's confusion. "Hi, Yasu. No, I'm fine, we're almost out. I just need the address for SPR's insurance provider. Apparently Naru has it."

As Mai was currently unable to write, Madoka took the phone and the information. Once the forms were finished and dutifully handed off to one of the nurses, Madoka fixed her injured employee with a curious stare. "Hey, Mai-chan... is there some reason you don't want to call Noll? I know he gets edgy about taking phone calls during working hours, but seeing as he's always working..." she trailed off at the puzzled expression on Mai's face.

"It's not that I don't want to call Naru," Mai informed her blithely. "I just couldn't – I don't have his number."

_She makes it sound like having Noll's number would be strange_, Madoka thought. When really, Mai's not having it was strange. Mai spent oodles of time at the Davis home, was the subject of Noll's current research, and was – shockingly enough – Noll's friend.

Not to mention the awkward-yet-so-entertaining metaphorical dance the two performed on a regular basis... Mai was probably the only (teenaged) girl that Oliver Davis would ever _willingly_ give his contact information to. "Well, that's easily fixed," Madoka said finally. She made a grab for Mai's cell phone. "Give it here, I'll just enter it in for you –"

"Ah, no, you probably shouldn't," Mai said nervously, yanking the phone out of reach.

Madoka raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"Well... I-I asked Naru for his number once," Mai stammered, blushing. "He told me I didn't need it."

The master ghost hunter was flabbergasted. "_What?_ Why would... when was this?"

"Oh, back in Japan," Mai said airily, waving her good hand. "I had just gotten a cell phone, and I was putting in all my important numbers..."

"A-ha," Madoka comprehended the situation. "Mai-chan, Noll was just being careful – he was hiding his identity then, remember? He didn't want anyone to be able to connect him with 'Dr. Oliver Davis.' Plus, his cell phone has an English code and number. That would have been a bit of a giveaway."

"Ohhh," Mai replied, smiling. "That makes sense. But... Masako-chan got his number," she admitted through gritted teeth.

Madoka's lips twitched at the jealousy in Mai's voice and expression. "Well, yes. Noll wasn't worried about Masako-san finding out – she already knew."

Mai's face cleared. "Right, I forgot she figured it out..."

"Maybe she blackmailed him into it," Madoka mused. She almost hadn't believed Lin when he informed her that Noll had taken the celebrity medium to several dinners... as blackmail payment. They'd mutually decided not to tell Martin and Luella.

"Maybe," Mai agreed vaguely. It was likely. "Hmm, for someone as free with her speech as Masako-chan is, I'm surprised she actually resorted to blackmail."

"I suppose she felt there was no other way... I mean, Noll wasn't interested in _her_," Madoka noted, giving Mai a meaningful glance. A useless meaningful glance, more than likely. Mai was actually even more oblivious than Oliver.

Which was mystifying, really... Mai was usually much more tuned in (emotionally speaking) than Noll. Madoka had discussed it with Koujo the other day. He'd simply given her a 'leave-it-alone' look and intoned, 'There are none so blind than those who will not see.'

But wouldn't Mai _want_ to see that Noll had feelings for her?

"Madoka-san, don't be silly," Mai responded, rolling her eyes. "Naru isn't interested in _anyone_."

Apparently not.

Madoka was beginning to think that mashing their heads together (as per Ayako's suggestion) was the way to go. But Lin staunchly advocated leaving them be. And Luella agreed with Lin, not wanting to spook Noll by pushing him too hard.

They had a point. It might ruin the _noticeable_ progress he'd made...

"Well, the situation is quite different now," Madoka said (her segue not much smoother than Mai's). "I highly doubt Noll would object to your having his number anymore." Madoka held out her hand for the phone.

The skittish psychic just buried it deeper in her robe. "Um, maybe not, but... I don't want to just get it from someone else," Mai confessed, blushing hard. "My friend Keiko-chan gave a guy my phone number once... and I really didn't appreciate it. I felt like the guy cheated... and I didn't get to decide for myself whether I wanted him to have my number. Naru's reaction to something like that would probably be worse."

Madoka pursed her lips. In a way, this could be looked at as Mai's first clear indication that she wanted Noll in a romantic way. The 'cheating' guy had obviously been looking for a date – and Mai didn't want to 'cheat' to get Noll's number. She linked Noll with dating. The master ghost hunter swallowed a grin and shrugged. "Whatever you say, Mai-chan. Now... let's get out of here, shall we?"

"Yes, please!"

-0O0-

Once Mai had been safely tucked into bed (electrodes in place), Madoka scuttled down to base and glared at Noll, crossing her arms for good measure.

"What could I possibly have done in the last fifteen minutes?" he asked without looking away from the monitors.

"I'm sure you could have done quite a lot, Noll, but I'm thinking a bit farther in the past."

"Pardon?"

"You need to give Mai-chan your cell phone number – whilst being very clear that it's something you don't mind doing."

Naru's eyes finally re-directed to Madoka. He stared blankly at her, trying to puzzle through her curious directive. A minute later, comprehension still eluded him. "What exactly are you on about?"

"When I asked Mai-chan to call you for the insurance information, she got all flustered and said she didn't have your number. When I tried to give it to her, she insisted that you wouldn't want her to have it. Apparently she asked for it in Japan and you told her off."

"The caller ID would have read Davis –"

"That's what I told her," Madoka assured him, "But she thinks that you don't want her having your number."

"That's not the case."

"Yes, that's what I figured – wait. So you _do_ want Mai to have your phone number?" Madoka grinned hugely.

Naru exhaled irritably, taking a moment to marvel that Madoka could be a brilliant scientist one minute and a bewildering meddler the next. "What I 'want' has nothing to do with this issue. It would make logical sense for Mai to be able to call my cell phone if necessary. Especially since she possesses an alarming propensity for finding trouble."

Upon meeting Lin's cautioning gaze, Madoka decided not to point out that Noll had a) not denied wanting Mai to have his number, and b) inferred that he expected himself to be her first phone call in an emergency. She bit back a giggle. "Well, then. You can tell her that tomorrow morning."

Naru sighed again, this time with exasperation. "Can't _you_ just give it to her? You're staying in the same room and will see her first."

"Oh, no, Noll," Madoka replied, smiling brightly. "That would be _cheating_."

-0O0-

AN: Okay, this might not be as polished as it could be, but I really wanted to post it before I left for vacation. I am totally ignoring bedtime and posting this instead of checking over my suitcase for missing items:) Anyway, I'll be back in two weeks, and there should be a new chapter the week following.

And I wasn't sure if Mai had asked Naru for his phone number in Japan. I think I remember reading it in the manga, but maybe I just read it in a fanfiction. It gets kind of hazy after a while, lol.

Oh, and thank you to Ariana Taniyama (again), for the wording of Lin's speech to Madoka about there being 'none so blind as those who will not see.' I couldn't remember the proper words, but then I remembered it was right there in the reviews!:)


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Manga 12 would have been published, among other things:)  
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**Chapter 21 – Range of Emotion**

-0O0-

It was late morning by the time Mai slumped into SPR's 'secondary base' (as Naru and Madoka referred to the equipment-room in the hotel). Mai's ribs hurt, her leg wound burned, and she had just finished a ten-minute-long battle with her clothes. She'd won the fight, but only just – her rumpled shirt and slightly askew skirt made it look as though Mai were ending a day of ghost hunting rather than starting one.

"Good morning, Mai-chan!" Yasuhara sang. "You look like you could use some breakfast!"

The giddiness in his voice almost made Mai want to hit him. "If by 'breakfast' you mean 'painkillers,'" she responded grouchily.

"I guess I do, sort of," Yasuhara replied. "You'll have to eat breakfast before taking any pills."

"Ugggh," Mai groaned, sinking onto the base's couch. She didn't want to eat right now.

"Come on, Mai-chan," Yasuhara coaxed, loading a plate. "You should know the drill by now. Food first, _then_ meds."

"Medicine works quicker without food."

"Maybe. But ulcers suck."

"Don't know, haven't had one." Mai buried her face in a pillow.

"Well, you'll get one if you don't eat some toast before popping those pills."

"And you wouldn't be allowed to take painkillers for an ulcer caused by painkillers," Madoka interjected sagely. "So think of it as saving yourself lots of future pain."

Her new boss' voice sounded very _close_. Mai opened one eye to find a plate of toast in her face and two identical over-bright smiles just beyond. "I think having Madoka-san and Yasu in the same place for too long is a bad thing," she announced to the room.

"Indeed," Naru intoned from his chair. "If they continue to feed off of one another, we may have to call Takigawa back from Japan... to exorcise the monster that will have coalesced from their combined energies."

Yasuhara gasped mockingly. "Big Boss, did you just make a_ joke?_"

"How observant, Yasuhara. No wonder you were accepted to Cambridge."

"Madoka-san, there's something wrong with Big Boss!" Yasuhara hissed loudly. "You didn't give _him_ any painkillers, did you?"

"No, Noll thwarted my efforts to slip them into his tea," she replied sadly.

"The two of you are exceptionally idiotic this morning," Naru drawled. "Mai, eat. Then they'll stop and we can get moving."

"There's no evidence to suggest that they'll stop," Lin observed. "That sounds like hope talking, Noll."

This time Madoka and Yasuhara exchanged an honestly amazed glance.

"Lin-san's making jokes, too?" Yasu asked weakly. "Maybe there's something in the toast..."

"Good, I hope it's painkillers," Mai mumbled to herself, biting into a piece.

"But _we_ ate the toast, Yasu," Madoka pointed out. "Wouldn't a mystery ingredient affect us as well?"

"Hmm, you're right..." Yasuhara nodded. Then his eyes lit. "Wait a minute – maybe not! We're _already_ fun and playful, Madoka-san, so..."

"You guys could be immune," Mai completed his thought. Apparently her reasoning skills were coming online. "I guess that makes sense – once you've been exposed to strong doses of something, a weaker level of the same won't work." Mai swallowed another bite of toast and made a weak grab for the accompanying cup of tea.

"Are you suggesting we habitually take mind-altering drugs, Mai-chan?" Madoka asked with a grin.

"She may be onto something, Madoka-san," Yasuhara contended. "Like I was saying, we're already awesome... so naturally, a low-level awesomeness-inducer wouldn't have any effect."

"Awesomeness... inducer?" Mai repeated blankly. She was in too much pain for this.

"That's what you get for encouraging them," Naru muttered, circling some interesting lines in one of Yasuhara's copied library records. "And if you're all quite finished being ridiculous and unproductive, I've found some data I'd like to discuss."

-0O0-

A few hours later, Mai and Naru were manning a desk in the 'primary base' – Naru rifling through headlines from a hundred years ago, Mai serving tea. Lin sat in his computer chair - on monitor duty, as usual.

Until the walkie-talkie squawked. "Koujo?" Madoka's voice asked through static. "Do you know where we stashed that extra camera? I thought we put in under the seat."

Lin thumbed the button. "We did."

"Well, I'm looking now and it's not there."

The _onmyouji_ sighed and rose to his feet. "I'll be right out, Madoka."

Once Lin left the base, Naru's gaze fixed immediately on the monitors – but he wasn't taking over the watch so much as marking Lin's progress toward the front door. When he was at least two rooms away, Naru turned to his former assistant. _Might as well get this over with_. "Mai."

"Yes, Narcissist, your tea will be ready in a moment," Mai assured him, opening the portable cup of cream.

"I'm thrilled to hear it, but that wasn't actually the object of my inquiry."

"There was an inquiry in there somewhere?" Mai asked saucily. "I thought it sounded like the beginnings of a command."

_The painkillers were making her braver_, Naru decided. He smirked and held out a hand. "If you're expecting a directive, I may as well provide one – give me your phone."

"What?" Mai asked confusedly. What was it with everybody and her phone? "Is yours dead or something?"

"Hardly." Naru's hand never wavered – and he added a demanding stare.

Mai was still lost – but also curious enough to retrieve her cell phone and place it gingerly in Naru's outstretched palm.

He pressed a button to bring up the home screen... before looking up to see Mai goggling at him. "The tea," Naru reminded her.

She was so thrown that she obeyed. By the time Mai realized that she was following Naru's orders and whipped around to yell, he was holding the phone out for her to take back. "Hey! You tricked me!"

"Two years older and still so gullible," Naru noted mockingly.

"Jerk," Mai muttered, snatching the phone from his hand. "Your tea's ready, by the way. It's over there. No way am I bringing it to you." _Ha_.

"That's alright," Naru said, noticing movement on the video screens. "Can you bring my tea over with yours, Lin?" he asked as the Chinese man re-entered the room.

"I can't tell whether you timed that or just got lucky," Mai grumbled.

"Luck favors the prepared," Naru replied with a smirk.

Annoyed, Mai returned her attention to her cell phone – which she regarded as though it were about to bite her. "What did you do to it?"

"I saved my number in your contacts," he responded simply. Perhaps if he were nonchalant enough, Mai would just accept it and move on. A few seconds passed... and no yelling. Perhaps his plan had worked. Naru looked up to verify his conclusion - to see both Mai and Lin staring in his direction, mouths open.

Mai recovered first. "You did _what?_" The 'what' was more a squeak than a word.

"Apparently you didn't have it," Naru said lightly, determined to brazen this out.

"Well, no, because you said no when I asked you –"

"At the time, I was trying to conceal my presence in Japan. You have a big mouth, Mai."

"Excuse me?" Mai's eyebrow twitched.

"I asked you to keep the spoon-bending a secret, didn't I?" Naru reminded her archly. "You only managed _two days_ before snitching on me in front of everyone, including Lin – who I _specifically_ requested you keep it from."

The young psychic was silent – Naru wasn't wrong. However... "I only said something because you were being mean and calling me an animal!"

"No, I said that you were_ like_ an animal," Naru corrected.

"Because that's so much better!" Mai contested hotly.

"Whatever the case," Naru said firmly, "You blurted out exactly what I didn't want you to say, to exactly who I didn't want you to say it. I can only imagine what could have happened had I given you my phone number. The minute you next became upset with my behavior, my contact information would probably have been posted online as revenge."

"And of course, you would _never_ think of altering said behavior to avoid this 'revenge,'" Mai scoffed, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Naru raised an eyebrow. "Why would I? I don't consider my behavior to be in need of alteration."

"Well, you're the only one who doesn't!" Mai snapped. "Not that the opinion of _others_ would bother someone like you, right?"

Naru's smirk returned. "At long last, you understand."

Mai glared. "Careful, Naru – your superiority complex is showing."

"It isn't a complex if one_ is_ superior."

"_Narcissist!_" Her teacup rattled in its saucer, as if jostled by an invisible hand.

"Careful, Mai – your temper is showing."

"Ugh, stupid PK!" She clumsily grabbed for her wiggling cup of tea. Liquid sloshed onto the table, spattering the desk and her cell phone.

"Mai, try not to let your supernaturally enhanced rage destroy your phone," her former boss cautioned. He calmly circled another news headline. "After all, you've only just got my number after _years_ of wanting it."

An interesting noise erupted from his former assistant – it was somewhere between a disgusted scoff and an embarrassed shriek. "_Naru!_"

Her tormentor's lips twitched as he held out a hand. "If you're not using those files, I'd like to look over them." He almost added, 'Before you spill tea all over them,' but decided against it. He wasn't up for cleaning the base if Mai totally lost it and poltergeisted.

"Fine," Mai hissed, face still flushed. "Come over and get them, then."

Naru raised a questioning eyebrow.

Mai smiled meanly. "I'm too far away to _hand_ the files over," she reasoned, tone falsely sweet. "But I suppose I could _throw_ them at you, Dr. Davis."

"They wouldn't be of use to anyone on the floor and out of order," Naru replied, calmly meeting Mai's infuriated stare.

Lin sipped his tea and wondered if either of them realized that he was still in the room.

-0O0-

Later that day, most of the team gathered in the base to await the arrival of Yasuhara. Madoka sighed grumpily, allowing her head to fall onto the desk in front of her. "Ugh, _hours_ of looking over research and tapes with precious little to show for it."

Mai sighed. "I know." She was rather disappointed herself. "And I haven't gotten anything, psychic-wise, from these files. Not even a hint of a vision."

"That's because you were missing the good stuff," a voice called from the hall. Yasuhara smiled brightly as he entered the base. "I just found this at the library." He offered Mai a folder of information before turning to Madoka and explaining. "You see, yesterday I looked through _recent_ disappearances and _old_ insanity cases – and got mostly nothing. But Mai said one of the ghosts was insane, so I knew I was missing something. And then it hit me – what if the insanity was never reported? People back then often covered up crazy people in the family, right? So I combined our search ideas and looked for _old_ _disappearances_. And I found this!" He pointed to the folder, grinning broadly at Mai.

Mai smiled back before looking over Yasu's discovery. It was a page from an old local paper. About halfway down the page, an article headline jumped out at her - "Reclusive Son of Walter Reed Declared Missing." The moment her injured hand brushed the printed surname, the room spun and Mai blacked out.

-0O0-

"There's nothing else for it," a wizened voice said sadly. "If you insist on keeping him in this house, he'll need to be locked up. Mr. Reed, your son's uncontrollable mental state makes him a danger to society. But just as important is Georgie's danger to himself – that cut on his arm is obviously self-inflicted. I would implore you, one last time, to send him for treatment elsewhere."

"He will not be leaving this house!" a second voice roared. "I will not have the world knowing that I fathered a lunatic!"

This voice was angry – but posh-sounding, too. And it sounded like it was coming from upstairs. Mai looked up at the ceiling – which was painted a snowy white and decidedly not in ruins. This difference prompted Mai to study her surroundings.

She was still in the base. The room's dimensions were the same... but it looked completely different. Gleaming wooden furniture lined the walls, a thick carpet was under her feet, and sunlight streamed through lacy curtains. Mai was in the past, obviously – and given that touching the newspaper clipping had caused this vision, she was very likely seeing the time period during which the article was written.

There were also a few odd-looking lamps in the room – not like any she'd seen before. Ignoring the voices for a moment (which had quieted down), Mai slipped over to the strange lamp and studied them more closely. One had a bulb inside it - but it was smaller than Mai was used to, it looked... different somehow. The other lamp was odder still - there was no bulb at all. _It's also rather expensive-looking_, she thought. Hand-painted designs of flowers bloomed over frosted glass... and a stylized knob on the outside connected to a low flame on the inside. Some kind of Bunsen-burner-lamp? "This must be before electricity was the norm," Mai said to herself. A sense of satisfaction stole through her – she'd been right about the ghosts being older than everyone thought.

Upstairs, the yelling erupted again. The angry man was shouting at someone. Mai concentrated, trying to tell whether the angry vibes she felt now were similar to those she'd encountered on the stairs. That would probably make this man the angry ghost. But... his anger didn't feel as _chaotic_ as the feelings she'd been sensing in the house. Mai sighed and left the not-base, heading for the stairs. She really didn't want to head up there again, but it was obviously the place to be.

And a moment later, Mai almost slapped herself. She was an SPR investigator! She faced down ghosts on a daily basis and should not be afraid of _walking up some stairs! _Then she saw the stairs, and inhaled sharply – but not in fear.

In the present day, the staircase was a dilapidated, broken-down mess... but in this time period, it was beautiful. Gleaming wood shone in the afternoon sunlight and panes of colored glass sparkled in between each post. The stairs themselves were partially covered by a rich-looking patterned runner. Mai took a moment to appreciate what was clearly the centerpiece of the front hall.

Suddenly, three people walked onto the upstairs landing. An elderly man in a white coat carried a black bag and a sad expression. _A doctor_, Mai reckoned, _and probably the first voice I heard_. A sad-looking woman followed after him. She was lovely, with hair piled elegantly atop her head and dressed in a lacy, poufy gown that fell in gathers to her feet. Her hands were clasped in front of her, and a golden ring on her finger winked in the light.

A matching ring glittered on the hand of the last person – a thunderous-looking man with a moustache and tensed-up shoulders. He gripped the railing so tightly that Mai worried the wood would crack under the strain. This man (obviously the owner of the second voice) was still shouting as the doctor made his way to the front door.

"And you won't be telling anyone about this, Stone!" he roared. "It's terrible enough that I _have_ a lunatic son! I won't be pleased should you share this _troublesome_ information with _others_."

Mai's mouth dropped open – didn't he care about his son at all?

His hand on the doorknob, the doctor turned in place and gave the man a hard look. "Mr. Reed, as a medical professional, I am under obligation to protect the privacy of my patients. _However_, I don't believe that anything I could say about your son could be as unpleasant as your attitude toward the matter. Good day, sir."

Mai found the doctor's attitude much more satisfactory than Mr. Reed's. Wait, Reed? _That was the name in the paper_, Mai remembered. Then that meant... it was this man's son who went missing? Mai pursed her lips and glanced up the stairs. Well, the son was obviously here now...

The doctor pulled a hat from the stand beside the front door, and tipped it in the direction of the woman. "Mrs. Reed, if your son needs anything, feel free to send for me immediately." He extended no such nicety to Mr. Reed before exiting the house.

"The nerve of that quack!" Mr. Reed roared. "I should have him run out of town!"

"Darling," Mrs. Reed spoke up for the first time. "Calm yourself. Dr. Stone is only trying to help us." She laid a tender hand on her husband's arm... and to Mai's surprise, the man quieted instantly. He even managed to offer his wife a look of sincere affection.

"He can leave his preaching at the door, then," Mr. Reed grumbled.

"Now, I know you're as worried about Georgie as I am," Mrs. Reed continued placatingly.

Their psychic observer raised an eyebrow at this. It sure didn't look that way from here. As if to prove Mai's point, Mr. Reed gave a dark look in the direction of the stairs.

Mai would wager her dinner that the room in which Georgie resided was the upstairs bedroom covered in scratches. With a father like that, Mai could totally understand the fear and pain permeating every inch of the place.

But… was Georgie the angry ghost, or the excited ghost?

Deep in thought, Mai watched Mrs. Reed embrace her upset husband. She almost didn't notice the figure at the top of the stairs. But then a twitchy movement caught her eye, and Mai looked up to see the live version of her ghostly attacker standing on the landing. He stared at his parents, just as Mai had been doing until a moment ago. Georgie looked longingly at the embracing couple... did he want a hug, too?

"What are you doing there?" Mr. Reed boomed suddenly. Mai jumped in surprise and Georgie braced himself against the railing, grasping it with thin fingers. A high-pitched, keening sound came from his throat.

"Darling..." Mrs. Reed began.

"Get back in your room!" Mr. Reed continued, ignoring both his wife and Georgie's wailing. "You heard that doctor – you're a menace to society! If you can't stay in your room like I told you, then I'll follow his advice and lock you in there for good!"

The threat seemed to bounce around the front hall, punctuated by the loud crying of Georgie and the whispered platitudes of Mrs. Reed. Mai just stared at Mr. Reed, her mouth open at his awfulness, until she caught another movement from upstairs in her peripheral vision. "What the...?" Mai trailed off.

As if a switch somewhere had been flipped, Georgie stopped cowering. Instead, he stood very straight... and a strange, eerie look came into his face.

Mr. Reed's eyes widened slightly... and he moved swiftly to stand in front of his wife, holding an arm out as if to shield her. Mai just looked on, confused at the almost-panic in Mr. Reed's face.

Until Georgie thrust out a pale arm and picked up a nearby vase.

"Dear, please don't," Mrs. Reed said, a pleading edge to her voice.

But Mr. Reed gave his son a twisted smile. "Go ahead," he said daringly. "You'll only be proving my point."

"Why..." Georgie hissed, fury sparking in his eyes, "Can't you just love me?"

"We _do_, dear!" his mother insisted.

"_He_ doesn't!" Georgie roared. And with a lightning-quick movement that Mai barely saw, he hurled the vase down the stairs. Mr. Reed brought his other arm up to protect his face...

And the dream-vision shattered around Mai as the vase shattered against Mr. Reed. Mai could hear Mrs. Reed screaming and Georgie laughing as she drifted back toward consciousness.

-0O0-

"Mai-chan?" Madoka's voice swam in the air above her. Mai groaned and moved slowly, making sure that her body and spirit were synced together again. She opened her eyes to find a concerned Madoka right above her. Yasuhara stood next to his mentor, holding out an open bottle of Powerade. Mai reached out a shaky hand and snagged the Powerade, trying not to spill it as she sat up. _Someone moved me to the couch_, she thought, taking a gulp of the fruity-tasting juice. "Thanks for the drink, Yasu," she murmured.

"Well, I figure I'm indirectly responsible for that particular blackout," he replied, grinning. "It's the least I can do. Not to mention I totally took advantage of you while you were unconscious."

"Huh?" Mai asked uncomprehendingly.

Yasu poked Mai in the forehead – but somehow didn't touch skin. Mai put a hand to her hairline and felt an electrode. So they'd hooked her up to that machine during her vision. "That was smart," she told her best friend.

"Of course it was. So much easier to get things done when your prey isn't protesting," Yasuhara said with an exaggerated wink.

Mai rolled her eyes. "Ugh, I am way too woozy for double meanings. Can you hold off on the sleazy comments until I'm really awake?"

"Hmm, I guess so. I should probably start sifting through the data, anyway." Yasu knew that Mai had to focus and explain her dream before she forgot any important details. Besides, Naru was about two seconds away from ordering him to recalibrate all of the cameras out of unrecognized jealousy. Yasuhara decided that placating him was in everyone's best interests. "Want some tea, Big Boss? I'm going to make some for Mai-chan."

Naru blinked. "No, not right now."

Madoka elbowed Mai and leaned in. "What Noll means is that he'll wait for you to feel good enough to make the tea," she whispered.

"Because I'm the resident tea slave?" Mai hissed back, eyes flat.

The master ghost hunter rolled her eyes. "No, because he wants_ your_ tea." She winked.

Mai inhaled sharply and felt all the blood in her body rush up to her face. She shook her head to clear her mind and disperse her raging blush. "Um, so I had a dream."

"Yeah, we figured that," Yasu said, holding up a sheet of paper with some squiggly lines on it. "We got nothing for a while; you must have been projecting again. But we could tell the instant you came back to your body. It took you a couple of minutes to really come to... don't you usually wake up right away?"

"Only after really disturbing first-person dreams," Mai replied. "If I'm feeling really scared, or if the person I'm seeing the vision through is murdered... that's usually enough to cause a fast wake-up. Normally, though, it takes a while to come back."

"See? A little bit of data and we've already learned something," Madoka said happily. "Alright, Mai-chan – what happened in this vision?"

-0O0-

"The only thing I still can't figure out," Mai finished, "Is which ghost Georgie is."

"What do you mean?" Yasuhara asked.

"Well, there are two presences," Mai reminded him. "One angry, one... excited. Which, honestly, isn't the right word for how that ghost feels to my senses..." She thought back to an advanced English class at Todai – they'd spent a week discussing similar-sounding terms with disparate meanings. "Maybe I really mean _excitable?_"

Naru shifted in his chair. "An excitable person is someone who is easy to emotionally motivate."

Mai nodded vigorously. "Then _t__hat's_ what I mean to say – one presence is _excitable_. But..." she frowned. "That still doesn't answer the big question – which ghost is Georgie?" Mai sipped her Powerade before continuing. "I mean, going by the dream... I would say that Georgie is the excitable ghost. He went from scared, to calm, to super-pissed in a matter of seconds. Maybe what I read as 'excitement' is an extension of that... instability."

Lin made a sound of agreement. "You also said that Mr. Reed was very angry throughout the vision. The angry ghost has been similarly mono-emotional, correct?"

"Mm-hm," Mai nodded. Then she paused. "Well... right before I was pushed down the stairs, I felt fear _and_ anger. But that could have been the presence of both of the ghosts..." Then she stopped. "But... maybe the angry ghost isn't Mr. Reed. The angry ghost was the one that followed me down the stairs... and it really looked like Georgie."

Yasuhara clucked his tongue. "Well, they _were_ father and son. Did they closely resemble one another?"

"Not really," Mai replied. "Georgie was really thin. His father –"

"Looked like this," Naru cut her off, tossing a fresh printout onto the table in front of Mai. A copy of an old-looking photograph depicting Mr. Reed stared up at her. Naru worked fast.

"Mr. Walter Reed, textile mill owner," her former boss continued in a clipped tone. "Very wealthy and owned property in London and Brighton, among other places. He also had a house in Bath, which was supposedly purchased for the improvement of the health of his reclusive and apparently _physically_ ill son."

"He didn't want anyone to know that Georgie was actually _mentally_ ill," Mai said sadly, remembering Mr. Reed's harsh words to the doctor.

"That was more common than you'd think, Mai-chan," Madoka told her sympathetically. "The way we perceive people like Georgie has changed dramatically in the last hundred years or so. Back in those days, the mentally ill were considered greatly dangerous and often beyond help. Most of them were locked up in asylums under horrible conditions. At least the Reeds were more merciful than that."

"His mother was," Mai agreed. "But Mr. Reed wasn't merciful so much as he was _afraid_ that someone would find out about Georgie's issues."

"Mental deficiencies in children reflected badly on their parents," Naru informed her dispassionately. "People likely would have considered Mr. Reed as a lesser man, or a failed father, had they known of Georgie's apparent bipolarity."

"That doesn't make it okay!" Mai yelled, incensed that Naru was defending Mr. Reed's actions.

"I didn't say it did," Naru replied coolly. "I'm only attempting to explain Mr. Reed's thought processes. Unpleasant truths are still truths." He met Mai's gaze with his own.

Mai's breath hitched at the look in Naru's eyes. It was the same dead, cold look that she'd seen at Urado's mansion, when she accused him of not understanding how it felt to die. Of course, she hadn't known about his clairvoyance then. And now he looked out of dead eyes again, while discussing failed parents and crazy children... _oh_.

Naru and Gene had lived in an orphanage until Martin and Luella adopted them. He probably knew children like Georgie, abandoned by ashamed or incapable parents. Or even worse... Considering Naru's own laundry list of psychic abilities, it was likely that people at the orphanage saw _him_ the same way Mr. Reed saw Georgie.

"I – you're right, Naru. I'm sorry I snapped at you," Mai said softly. He looked away.

Madoka smiled a bit as she watched this interaction. Mai was quicker than people gave her credit for. Of course, as a fellow orphan, Mai might possess a better frame of reference than most people did...

Madoka knew that Noll and Gene had experienced similar troubles at the orphanage - its mistress had informed Martin on the subject when he'd arrived to examine them. A lot of the other orphans and several of the staff insisted the twins were crazy. Seeing ghosts, telling the maids that objects in their room moved of their own accord, somehow knowing secrets about people in the orphanage... the 'crazy' accusations were almost a given.

Luckily, the father of one of the orphanage's aids worked for SPR, and he recognized the signs of psychic ability from phone calls with his child. Martin was notified, and the head of SPR journeyed to the United States almost immediately.

Martin had taken Luella with him to the orphanage. They hadn't been able to have children, which disappointed Luella deeply. They had been considering adoption, so Martin thought it a good idea to bring her along. He'd planned on sending Luella for a tour of the place while he interviewed Oliver and Eugene, but she'd decided to stay with her husband. The twins' plight had concerned her – plus, Luella was a psychologist. If the twins didn't turn out to be psychic, Luella figured that she could at least formulate a better diagnosis than 'crazy' or 'liars.'

And after one afternoon with Noll and Gene, Martin and Luella were signing papers to adopt them.

Madoka remembered talking with Martin about his new additions, in a private conversation after class. She remembered how _happy_ he'd seemed – and not just about their obvious and highly interesting psychic abilities. Although Martin was less effusive about their 'adorableness' than Luella apparently was, Martin was very impressed with their intelligence, their bond with one another, and their highly developed personalities. He did say that they were noticeably wounded emotionally, but he hoped time and family life would help. Madoka smiled to herself; it was this conversation that had taken her relationship with Martin from that of 'teacher' and 'favorite student' to friendship. She'd met Luella and the twins a month later.

Noll's voice cut into Madoka's reminiscences. "Perhaps the answer lies in the 'excitable' ghost's being more multi-faceted than we initially calculated."

"What do you mean?" Mai asked, tilting her head – cutely, in Madoka's opinion. Noll apparently agreed, as he paused a moment and looked at Mai with softer-than-normal eyes. His mentor bit back a grin.

"Obviously that the 'angry' ghost isn't the only spirit which can exhibit anger. The 'angry' ghost may be _continuously_ angry, but that doesn't mean that the 'excitable' ghost can't _sometimes_ be angry. The 'excitable' spirit simply has more of an emotional range. And the symptoms of Georgie's mental illness match such changeability."

"Excellent work, Noll," Madoka said, snapping back into researcher-mode. "So it's likely that Georgie is the 'excitable' ghost, and the father is angry ghost, then."

Mai bit her lip. Hadn't she told them that Mr. Reed's anger felt different from the ghost's? But then again... she'd been taught that a ghost's feelings often changed over time, becoming more and more twisted as time went by. A hundred years was a long time. It was possible that Mr. Reed remained in the house as the angry ghost... but they had little evidence to support that conclusion. So, regardless of what any of them thought... "We need more information," Mai finished her thought aloud.

"It appears so," Naru agreed, studying the article that had sent Mai careening into a vision. "Now that we have a basic understanding of the family and their conflicts, we can fine-tune our research appropriately."

Madoka nodded. "There must be more information on Georgie's 'going missing.' If we double up on the research end, we can get the information double quick. So, someone will accompany Yasu to the library tomorrow. All things considered, it should be probably be Mai-chan."

"Huh?" Mai asked dumbly. "I'm probably the worst researcher out of the five of us!"

"And you'll never get any better unless you practice," Madoka replied smoothly. "But look at it this way, Mai-chan – you're injured, psychically exhausted, and under threat of future attack. Time for a break, I think."

Mai pursed her lips. Madoka did have a point. But still...

"I disagree," Naru stated coolly. "Mai is the most valuable investigator on this case."

Everyone turned to face him, varying degrees of surprise visible in their expressions. Mai's was definitely the most shocked.

"She is our primary link to the ghosts," Naru reminded his mentor. "Mai has already had two major connections with a ghost." Perhaps three connections, but Naru was still convinced that the first astral projection had connected Mai with Gene, rather than with the house's spirits.

"I agree," Lin spoke up. "We would benefit from Taniyama-san's remaining close by. The ghosts are obviously able to contact her, and it is more likely that the case will be solved via Taniyama-san's abilities rather than library research. The article about the younger Reed's disappearance did not give us any insight into his character or life, as Taniyama-san has done. We need such details to plan out an exorcism. And considering that the family worked hard to keep personal details out of the press, I highly doubt that any details of Georgie's drama became a matter of public record."

"Unless Georgie _was_ eventually admitted to a hospital," Madoka argued. "Or did something so bad it required police intervention. If either happened, there'd be a record... wait!" Madoka whipped around to face Mai. "That doctor from your dream _had_ to keep records! Do you remember his name? If he left his case record to the public, there should definitely be something on Georgie."

"His name was..." Mai closed her eyes. She heard Mrs. Reed's voice in her head – _'Darling, calm yourself. Dr. Stone is only trying to help us.'_ "His name was Dr. Stone."

"Madoka, you have just proven my point," Naru asserted. "_You_ should be the one to accompany Yasuhara; your research instincts are superior. Mai's strengths lie in her psychic talents and are most fruitful at a haunted dwelling. Besides, she will have plenty of time to hone her researching abilities at Cambridge."

Mai was momentarily stunned. Naru apparently agreed with her own assessment of her skills. _And_ he had said 'her strengths' – implying that Naru thought she had _strengths_. Mai bit her lip again – this time to fight off a silly smile.

The 'boss' of their team studied Naru closely for a moment before acquiescing. "Alright, Noll. Mai-chan stays here... but _you_ get to watch over her and make sure the malevolent ghosts don't hurt her again." A sneaky smile curved across Madoka's face.

To which Naru responded with a cold glare. "I'm not sure what you find amusing about the ghosts' obvious predilection for bothering Mai." He knew he was being baited, and refused to rise to the occasion. Better to sidestep Madoka when she got like this.

The master ghost hunter sighed heavily. "Fine, Noll. Be as un-fun as you'd like."

"I will, thanks." Naru turned and clicked a couple of buttons on the main computer, not-so-subtly ending the conversation.

"How come you only say 'thank you' in a jerky way?" Mai inquired. She remembered asking this already, but it sincerely flummoxed her. "Why say it at all, then?" Naru tensed slightly and Mai found herself even more interested.

"Heh," Madoka laughed meanly. "It involves a deal with me, made long ago. But I'll tell you about it later. It's almost time to head out for the night, guys – so if there's anything you want to get done before dusk, do it now."

-0O0-

Lin took a moment to relish the silence. Following Madoka's pronouncement, Naru dragged Mai off to the front hall to re-trace her path in the dream (and likely go over everything again, in case she'd forgotten to mention something helpful). Madoka and Yasuhara were currently outside, having elected to do an equipment check.

Happily alone in the base once again, Lin chose to re-examine what he felt was the most interesting discovery of the case. Calling up a minimized window, Lin played the video feed of the attack on Mai for the umpteenth time.

The staircase incident was pretty straightforward – though Noll's obsessive watching and re-watching of that moment suggested otherwise. But Lin attributed Noll's fixation to self-punishment over Mai's injury, rather than to analysis of the attack.

Lin did not share Noll's unvoiced feelings of self-scorn. Not only was Mai (relatively) fine, she should have called for help before running off at half-cock to the most dangerous spot in the house. Mai had even said so herself.

So rather than watch the staircase attack, Lin replayed the feed captured right before it – video of the hallway outside base, where Mai had been resting against the wall before becoming mysteriously stuck to the floor. And although the sticking to the floor and the glowing scratches were quite interesting, those supernatural occurrences were not what held Lin's attention. He paused the feed and moved his face as close to the screen as possible. _Was it a trick of the light?_

Upon finding herself stuck to the floor, Mai had panicked briefly before cleverly calling upon her PK-MT to fend off the attack. As her current instructor, Lin found himself rather proud of her quick thinking and correct response.

But Mai's usage of PK wasn't the issue. The_ issue_ was the faint glow that appeared to move down Mai's forearm moments before she freed herself from the grip of the ghost-scratches.

_It could have been a trick of the light..._ After all, there were lots of glowing scratches on the screen. Possibly Mai moved in a way that only made it _look_ as if the light were coming from her arm when it was really from the floor. It was conceivable.

However, it was also conceivable that the glow was generated by Mai herself. Lin pursed his lips. He had been a researcher for SPR for quite a long time now. And while he didn't have the same psychic instincts that Mai possessed, he was a very capable investigator and _onmyouji_. And _those_ instincts were telling him that the mysterious glow was coming from Mai.

Lin sighed, conflicted. Even if he were right... it didn't necessarily mean anything dire. Noll's powers sometimes caused a rather intense glow to manifest around him. It was feasible that Mai's PK caused a similar effect – in this instance, her concentration was heightened by fear and danger, which could explain the sudden appearance of the never-before-seen glow.

In fact... though neither he nor any of SPR had ever noticed, it was reasonable to assume that Mai's powers produced this glow all the time. Lin would never have seen it this time if the hallway hadn't been so dim... and Mai's tests and lessons were performed in brightly-lit laboratories.

Plus, she wore those black gloves all the time. The fabric was opaque, obviously, as its purpose was to hide reportedly disfiguring scars. Mai's arms could glow every time she used her PK... without anyone noticing. Given that Mai sometimes still neglected to explain things properly, it was likely that she simply hadn't mentioned the glow. She'd seen Noll's abilities in action – maybe she thought glowing was expected.

And yet... a warning sounded in Lin's brain. Something in the back of his mind, a thought that he couldn't quite pull together into something coherent... There was something... _off_ about the whole matter. He stared unblinkingly at the monitor as Mai won against the floor and briefly studied her freed hand in triumph.

As she raced unwisely towards the stairs, completely bypassing the able-to-assist _onmyouji_ visible on-screen, Lin made up his mind. Mai was obviously not going to bring up the glow on her own. Though now an investigator herself, she sometimes shied away from help and was curiously defensive about certain aspects of her powers. He'd just have to bring it up himself. _Alone_, he mentally added. She was even more reticent around Noll.

Which was interesting, as well – it was as if Mai were trying to hide something from Oliver.

Lin choked back a laugh. _Good luck with that, Taniyama-san_.

-0O0-

AN: Okay, I'm back from vacation!:) I had a great time - I think walking up an active volcano on Santorini, followed by jumping off a tour boat and swimming to some natural salt-water hot springs was the highlight. Greece was beautiful, Rome was wonderful (but sooooo hot) and the island cruise we took was the perfect way to end the trip:)

Of course, I got a sinus infection almost immediately upon my return, so I couldn't really write for a few days. But I'm feeling better now, and I was so surprised and pleased at the huge number of reviews I got during my absence! I love you guys! And don't worry, I'll be doing review replies after I post this;)

Anyway, so here's the next chapter:)


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Manga 12 would be out...  
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**Chapter 22 – Answers**

-0O0-

High-pitched, raucous laughter rang through the house. It had been going on ever since Mai had spoken Georgie's name aloud at the foot of the stairs.

Even though it had to be the twentieth time in an hour, Mai still jumped every time. She _hated_ not being able to see the ghosts. Not to mention, she felt as if the excitable ghost was laughing at _her_. After three days and several major paranormal occurrences, Mai still couldn't even get an ID on the spirits.

As they finished packing up for the night (to the tune of ghostly sniggers), Madoka heaved an antsy sigh. "Maybe we should start talking about an exorcism," she suggested, throwing a biographical article about the Reeds onto the base table.

"But how are we going to exorcise spirits we can't even identify?" Yasuhara pointed out. "I'm all for trying whatever you want, but I think we should have more of a handle on the ghosts first."

"It's my fault," Mai said morosely. "I'm not a very good medium."

"Nonsense," Madoka replied tersely. "You_ are_ a good medium. You just need more training. Even the best mediums have problems with spirits, Mai-chan."

"Maybe," Mai mumbled doubtfully, thinking of Gene. He was a perfect medium – and he'd said this case was pretty easy. _Sure, maybe for him_, Mai growled internally.

"There is an obvious answer here, Mai-chan," Yasuhara said, prodding her chair with his foot.

She only raised an annoyed eyebrow.

Yasu's mouth twitched at the very Naru-like gesture. "You need to talk to a more experienced medium. And it's not like we don't know one."

Mai sucked in a shocked breath. Why was Yasuhara talking about Gene? And in front of _everyone_. That was not the Reveal Plan!

Her best friend did not understand Mai's horrified expression. "I'm sure Masako-chan will forgive us for bothering her. She's bound to be bored, anyway – her show is on break and there's no case this week."

_Duh, he meant Masako!_ Mai barely kept from smacking herself in the head. "Yeah, you're right, Yasu. I don't know why I was freaking out." Mai pulled out her cell phone. She grinned a bit as she pressed the number '8' – who would have thought Masako would be on her speed dial?

Then again... who would have thought she'd ever have Naru's cell phone number? So far, Mai had managed to resist the urge to scroll through her contacts and stare at Naru's contact information. After all, it would be embarrassing if someone saw – she'd wait until she got back to her hotel room. Madoka was on monitor duty tonight, so Mai would be alone in their room. She could giggle and kick her feet in glee all she wanted to. No doubt she'd have the number memorized by tomorrow...

The phone clicked. "Hello?" Masako's soft voice asked in Japanese. "Mai-chan?"

"Hey, Masako-chan!" Mai answered, smiling brightly. "I hope I didn't call at a bad time."

"No, you didn't. I couldn't sleep."

"Oh, right, it's late there," Mai remembered. "I'm sorry!"

"It's fine, Mai-chan, I told you I couldn't sleep," Masako repeated, a hint of annoyance in her voice. Mai grinned again – Masako was still Masako.

"I'm on a case," Mai explained. "And I can't figure out the ghosts."

"Then I hope I can help," Masako replied properly. "You say there are multiple ghosts? Can you see them, Mai-chan?"

"Not really," Mai admitted. "I saw someone falling down the stairs on the first day - no scream, no vision, and he disappeared when he hit bottom. The only other time I saw anything was when one of the ghosts attacked me."

"Are you alright?" her friend asked solicitously.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit cut up. I got knocked down the stairs again." Mai rolled her eyes, studying her finger splint dispassionately. "What is it with ghosts and stairs, anyway?"

"You know as well as I do that it has to do with a stairway's position as a 'doorway' between floors," Masako chided. "Spirits inside a house can be trapped within a certain space – and if it is bound to a specific floor of the house, the stairway is usually the furthest it can go. Not to mention that new 'prey' has to enter the ghost's domain via the stairs. Naturally, ghosts would gather at such a spot." Masako paused. "And you need to be more careful, Mai-chan," she noted in a slightly condescending tone (which Mai knew meant that Masako was more concerned than irritated).

"I know, I know. I'm really okay," Mai assured her. "But don't tell Ayako."

Naru caught Lin's eye and raised an eyebrow. It sounded like Masako Hara asked Mai if she was okay _twice_. Mai _had_ said they were better friends, but Naru had wondered if Mai was just thinking positive.

On the phone, Masako heaved a sigh. "Fine – although I'm sure she'll find out somehow. Anyway, what other information can you give me about the ghosts?"

"Well, there are two of them..." Mai started.

"How can you be sure, since you can't see them?"

"Well, I can _feel_ them," Mai replied. "One is really pissed, and the other is... well, we've been calling it 'excitable.'"

"Hmm... and which one is the dominant spirit?"

"Umm... I'm not sure," Mai hedged. "The angry one attacked me."

"That would lead me to consider it the dominant spirit," Masako noted. "Is there any evidence to suggest otherwise?"

"Umm..." There was Mr. Reed, obviously. Mai pursed her lips - what was his first name again?

"Mai-chan, are the others there?" Masako asked, sounding amused.

"Yeah, they're all here." And hanging on her every word, it looked like.

"Why don't you put me on speakerphone? That way, we can share information more completely."

"Oh!" Mai pressed the button. "That's a good idea."

"Of course it is, Mai-chan," Masako replied with a trace of haughtiness. Mai giggled.

"Hi, Masako-chan!" Yasuhara called. "Did we wake you from a lovely dream?"

"Hello, Yasuhara-kun," Masako's answered flatly. Mai tried not to giggle again – Yasuhara's buoyant inappropriateness really annoyed Masako sometimes. "And no, I wasn't sleeping."

"Ohhh, are you on a _date?_"

"Yasuhara-kun, you _are_ incorrigible," Masako drawled. "And no, I'm not. I had dinner with my parents tonight."

_So that was why she couldn't sleep_, Mai reckoned. Masako's relationship with her parents was a little... _strained_. Masako loved them, but sometimes she felt like her parents saw her as a show dog instead of a girl. "How'd that go?" Mai asked sympathetically.

"As it always does," she said airily. "But that's not why we're having this conversation. So, how can you be sure there are two spirits if you can't see them? Sensing two presences does not negate the possibility that there are others present."

"That's true," Madoka agreed. "And hello, Hara-san."

"Hello, Mori-san," Masako said genially. "And also Lin-san and Naru-san, yes?"

"Yes," Naru said shortly, eager to get to the point. "Good evening, Hara-san. You believe there are _more_ ghosts?"

"Not necessarily," Masako clarified. "I was just saying that Mai-chan cannot be positive about the number of spirits simply because she feels like there are two."

"I really don't think there are _more_ than two," Mai argued, studying the monitors thoughtfully.

"You misunderstand, Mai-chan," Masako said impatiently. "I'm just telling you not to assume there are two spirits based on incomplete information."

"Oh," Mai muttered, coloring. "You're right."

"Have you had any dreams?" the medium asked her.

"Yeah, one. I'm pretty sure that the excitable ghost is a young man who disappeared a long time ago. I saw him in a vision, fighting with his father."

"Did he die in the vision?"

"No," Mai told her. "But he _was_ at the top of the stairs. Same place he was when he pushed_ me_ down them. Oh, and he yelled something right before he attacked me – he said, 'This is what they did to me.'"

"And then he pushed you? And you're sure it was the young man?"

"Yes and yes. The attack happened first, and I recognized him in the dream later."

"Well, it sounds like he was pushed down the stairs himself – and that's probably how he died."

Mai nodded at Masako's words. The person she'd seen falling down the stairs on the first day could have been Georgie.

"You said 'what _they_ did to me,' though," Masako continued. "I thought you said he was only fighting with the father."

"Oh, the mother was in the dream, too," Mai corrected. "But she was _defending_ Georgie. There was a doctor, as well, but I don't think he had anything to do with Georgie's death."

"Is this your instinct talking?" Naru asked quietly.

Mai paused. "Yes," she replied. "Doctor Stone had nothing to do with it."

"But what about the mother?" Lin asked.

Mai bit her lip. "That one I'm not sure on," she conceded. "I mean, I can't imagine who _else_ would have been in the house when Georgie was killed. There wasn't anyone else around in the dream, and I didn't see any servants. Plus, Mr. Reed wanted to keep Georgie a secret, right? So I don't think there would be many people allowed inside."

"Why would Reed-san – the father, I'm assuming – want to keep his son a secret?" Masako asked. "Was he illegitimate?"

"No, but he was crazy," Mai replied.

"Crazy how?" Naru asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Mai was confused.

"'Crazy' is a blanket term for several different mental issues," her former boss explained. "Did this Doctor Stone have a more narrow diagnosis?"

"Well... he said something about Georgie being a danger to himself and the community," Mai remembered, thinking back. "And I told you that he switched from scared to really pissed in a heartbeat."

"Bipolar?" Masako suggested. "Or maybe... what's the word?"

Gene's voice rang in Mai's head. "He was obviously crazy, likely manic in life – and it only worsened after death," the teen psychic intoned in a soft voice.

Naru regarded Mai with interest. The way she'd said that... it was like someone else was speaking through her. "Mai," he called sharply.

She snapped out of it. "What, Naru?"

"I think you were just possessed," Masako informed her. "You certainly sounded like you were."

"No," Mai replied slowly. "I was just remembering something..."

"Mai-chan, did you say 'manic' just then?" Madoka asked, eyes lit with what Mai could only hope was an idea.

Mai nodded. "Um... I heard Georgie described that way." She pretended not to notice Naru's eyes narrow.

"_That_ was the word I was looking for," Masako affirmed.

"What does it mean?" Mai asked.

"To have very intense emotions – whether they be happiness, anger, sadness..." Madoka rattled off. "And from your description, Georgie certainly sounds manic – and bipolar. Those two mental conditions often go together."

As if to punctuate this statement, Mai felt anger surge all around her for a moment... followed closely by a wave of fear.

"Bipolar..." Naru repeated, eyes staring out into space. Then suddenly, his eyes widened. "Bipolar," he repeated again. His gaze locked onto Mai. "We've been talking about the presences as if they exist concurrently, but on the first day of the case, you said that the two energies kept _switching_."

"They did – they still do. One minute the angry one is dominant, then the excitable one takes over." Mai wordlessly willed Naru to elaborate.

He did. "Someone who is bipolar switches from one emotion to another very quickly – and _completely_," Naru stressed. "And someone manic has very strong emotions."

Both of those descriptions applied to Georgie Reed... but hadn't Mai already said all this?

"I'm not sure I follow," Masako confessed, unknowingly sharing Mai's silent call for more information.

"You said it yourself, Hara-san. How do we know that there are two ghosts? We _don't._" Naru tossed his notebook onto the table. "We're having trouble identifying which spirit is Georgie because he exhibits emotions that both the 'angry ghost' and the 'excitable ghost' possess. But we've only _seen_ one ghost – and he is the ghost of a manic, bipolar person. There _aren't _two ghosts – there is only _one_."

Mai closed her eyes in dismay. The reason that Georgie felt like he could be both ghosts was because he _was_ both ghosts. "I am such an idiot," she groaned.

"No, you needed more information," Madoka corrected.

"And advice from a better medium," Mai argued.

"Mai-chan, have some confidence in yourself," Masako reproached her. "I have several years of experience on you. Not to mention that my medium abilities are my primary skill – whereas yours are astral projection and instinctual ESP. Both of which are usually highly helpful on cases."

Mai blushed and bit her lip. Compliments from Masako were rare. "Thanks, Masako-chan. For your help and the pep talk."

"It's nothing, Mai-chan. Although... if you wanted to repay me somehow, you could try and convince Ayako-san that_ gold_ is not the prettiest choice for bridesmaid attire."

Mai giggled. "I'm on it. I guess this means that Ayako has decided she's going Western with the clothing. Is there any color you want me to push for?"

"A nice dark pink would be agreeable with my complexion. You would look better in light pink, Mai-chan, but it's a summer wedding. Honestly, any color is all right – so long as it's not gold or silver. Formal dresses should not be _shiny_."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Mai tried to envision the elegant, kimono-wearing Masako in a shiny, gold-colored dress. An entertaining thought, but definitely not wedding-material.

"So do you agree, Mai?" Naru cut in impatiently. He had just made a case-breaking deduction, and she was talking about bridesmaid dresses.

The teen psychic heard the annoyance in Naru's tone and re-focused immediately. Closing her eyes, Mai stretched her senses to feel out as much of the house as possible. For a brief moment, she could feel the anger – like a bright, burning flame – rip through her. Then it disappeared... and a wave of unbalanced excitement replaced it. Not concurrent, but switching. Like Georgie on the stairs. Mai's eyes snapped open. "Yes, Naru," she answered firmly. "I'm sure you're right. I don't know why I didn't think of that myself."

"Live and learn, Mai-chan," Madoka said bracingly. "Thank you so much, Hara-san. We'll let you go before dawn breaks over there."

Masako made an amused noise. "Very well, Mori-san. And Mai-chan, I'll talk to you later in the week. Bou-san's thinking about taking that school case."

The primary lead investigator of TTMPI sighed. "I knew he would. He's a sucker for haunted schools."

"More like a sucker for pretty jailbait that begs him for help," Yasuhara corrected slyly.

"Our potential client_ is_ a girl," Masako admitted thoughtfully.

"Let me guess," Mai groaned. "Big eyes all teary, shaky hands fisted in the material of a too-short skirt?"

"Yes, naturally. Hmm, no wonder Ayako-san looked so annoyed." Masako giggled softly.

"You do realize that you just described _yourself_, right, Mai-chan?" Yasuhara grinned. "Pretty jailbait who wears short skirts, and goes teary-eyed with worry over the fate of ill-used ghosts..."

"Shut it, Yasu," Mai hissed.

"Am I wrong?"

"I'm hanging up before this argument begins in earnest," Masako stated wearily. "Ayako-san and Bou-san are quite enough to deal with. Good night, everyone."

-0O0-

An uptick in Georgie's mood swings had led Mai to usher her friends out of the house. Lin drove everyone back to the hotel - stopping on the way to pick up some food. By the time the group finished dinner in their secondary base, Madoka was well into case-solving mode.

"So, we've got one ghost. One crazy, violent ghost who was probably shoved down the stairs by his father... and since he 'disappeared without a trace,' was likely buried in the garden," she summarized. "Shall we focus on searching for the body, or developing an exorcism strategy?"

"Exorcism strategy," Mai said immediately. Gene had mentioned performing an exorcism.

Across the table, an alarm went off in Naru's head. Mai usually stayed pretty quiet during this phase of the case. And she sounded so _sure..._ for someone who didn't know how many ghosts were present until a couple of hours ago. "What makes you so certain?" he asked, eyes narrowed and suspicious.

"I, um, feel like that's the right thing to do," Mai answered evasively. And she did feel like it was the right thing to do. She just had a little help with figuring it out.

"Do you now?" Naru asked silkily.

Mai could hear something brewing beneath the veneer of placidity with which Naru coated his questions. She could also feel him staring at the side of her face as she studied her teacup (she couldn't look straight at him without giving herself away). But she wasn't enacting the Reveal Plan in front of everyone. "Yes, Naru," she hissed. "They're called instincts. _You're_ the one who told me I had them."

"I remember," he said, still sounding extremely calm. Then his tone sharpened. "I also remember that you promised Madoka you would start telling us _everything_."

Mai's fingers twitched, the metal of her splint glinting in the artificial lights. She did _not_ want to do this in front of everyone. Besides... even though she and Gene had agreed to let Naru in on their continued meetings, Mai still felt a rush of panic every time she imagined actually_ telling_ him. Naru was _definitely _going to be pissed. He was _already_ pissed.

Then Madoka unknowingly gave her an out. "Mai-chan? Do you have some more case information to share?"

Oliver Davis almost lost his temper. He had Mai right where he wanted her, and Madoka had to go and misunderstand! He didn't care about _case information_ right now. Annoyed, Naru looked away from Mai... just in time to see Yasuhara throw her a nervous look. And if _Yasuhara_ actually looked _nervous_…

Then he _must _be right. _Mai could see Gene_.

And Yasuhara knew about it – which for some reason made Naru angrier.

"Ah... not really," Mai told Madoka honestly. "I think we should plan an exorcism, but I already said that." She shrugged. "I don't know what kind of exorcism to go with... that's not really my strong point."

"Well, that's alright, Mai-chan. Solving cases is usually a_ group_ effort," Madoka reassured her brightly - before addressing the owner of the Blue Laser Beams of Doom across the table. "Noll. Pack it in, will you?" Madoka wasn't sure what her former student was thinking, but scaring Mai was not going to make her open up. Unsurprisingly, Noll ignored her. SPR's lead investigator threw an exasperated glance at Lin.

Who also ignored her - in favor of sorting through the conversation-inside-another-conversation that was obviously happening.

Meanwhile, Naru continued staring at the side of Mai's face - silently willing her to crack.

"Aaaanyway," Yasuhara began, blithely speaking over the tension bouncing around the table. "Mai-chan is obviously in favor of an exorcism, which to her usually means _jourei_. Which naturally begs the question – do we know enough about the ghost that we can appeal to him effectively?"

Mai was half-listening to Yasu, and half-watching Naru out of the corner of her eye. She knew he was still glaring at her – out of reflex, Mai looked down to make sure her gloves were on and covering everything. Long moments later, Mai realized she should probably answer Yasu's question. "I... I don't know. I haven't seen how Georgie died yet – and that's usually important."

"And you're sure the ghost is Georgie?" Lin asked slowly, still trying to puzzle out what was going on. "Both major emotions that you feel in the house tie back to him?"

"Yes," Mai replied quickly. "They do. Both the anger and the excitability tie back to how Georgie acted in the vision... _ugh_, I'm an idiot. Why didn't I realize it was only one spirit?" For that matter, why hadn't Gene told her? There was no way he hadn't known there was only one ghost. She'd asked whether the manic ghost was Georgie...

Wait... _had_ she asked? She and Gene had gotten sidetracked by the drama and given the case short shrift. Mai thought back... _'He was obviously crazy, likely manic in life – and it only worsened after death.'_ That's what Gene had said. _He was crazy..._

And Mai almost slapped herself in the forehead upon realizing her mistake. "_He_ was crazy and manic," Mai groaned. "Not_ they_ were crazy and manic. He never said '_they_' at all. I should have _known_ it was one ghost from the beginning! I just wasn't paying attention."

"Okay," Madoka cut into Mai's monologue, sensing that she was going back down a self-deprecating path. "I think that's it for the night. We're obviously all tired – and most of us are irritable." She threw Naru a glare. "We'll discuss exorcism options in the morning. Yasu, help me set up base." Maybe she could get some information out of him. "Everyone else – bed. _Now_," she finished firmly.

Everyone present knew that tone meant business. Yasuhara immediately started setting up for the midnight shift. Mai went about placing empty teacups on a tray for the maids. Lin grabbed his notes before holding the door open for his colleagues.

Naru, however, showed no sign of heading for bed. He just continued to watch Mai as she nervously scuttled around the room. Madoka made to reprimand him, but Naru beat her to speech.

"_Paying attention_ to whom, Mai?" Naru asked.

Mai jumped a little at the sudden question. "Huh?"

"You just said that you weren't _paying attention_ to someone. That _he_ never said there were two ghosts." He paused, watching Mai's tight face carefully. "Who is this _he_, Mai?"

Mai froze, eyes flying wide. Naru opened his mouth, fully intent on pressing his advantage...

"Obviously someone in her_ vision _about Georgie, Big Boss," Yasuhara cut in, trying to stop the Big Bad Drama that was seconds from happening.

"Noll, _stop hounding Mai-chan_," Madoka added frustratedly.

Naru leveled a frigid glare at his mentor. "Perhaps I am merely attempting to gain a more complete picture of the situation than _you_ are willing to ask for," he hissed angrily. He was done with interference. "I don't know why you're objecting – the _boss_ should be as in the know as possible. You're being quite negligent, Madoka... and Mai's being a fool."

Her former boss' caustic tone set Mai off, his words kindling her panic into anger. "Okay, Naru," she interjected heatedly. "If you're going all 'idiot scientist' on us, then tell me... exactly which scientific method says that 'hounding' your colleagues produces better results?"

Across the room, Yasuhara closed his eyes in defeat. When Mai was angry, she sometimes disclosed information that she didn't intend to. It was one of the reasons that Naru deliberately set her off so often. And his time, his baiting worked – Mai was so caught up in the struggle between anxiety, annoyance, and her concealment-efforts, that she didn't even notice her slip of the tongue.

Unfortunately, Big Boss totally did.

_Idiot scientist_, she'd said. Naru's eyes flashed and he was on Mai in an instant. "What was that you just said?" he asked, his voice soft and dangerous.

Mai misinterpreted the question. "What's the matter, Narcissist? A little fuzzy on the social graces section of interviewing test subjects?" Her eyes cleared and her back straightened - Mai was more comfortable arguing with Naru than with tiptoeing around him. "Isn't that one of the basics of being the _b__oss?_ You shouldn't be going after Madoka-san if you're not up to snuff yourself."

"Your patronizing tone is unwarranted, given that a great amount of _your_ knowledge of scientific methods and 'being the boss' comes from your experiences with _me_," Naru fired back. "And I was not referring to your question concerning the application of the _niceties_ to my interpersonal relationships."

"Then what _were _you referring to?" Mai asked, ignoring Yasu's frantic head-shaking.

"I wanted you to repeat that nickname you called me by," Naru specified through his teeth.

"Naru the Narcissist? Fine. Naru, you are a humongous Narcissist!"

"No, Mai. Not _your_ nickname for me. You just used _someone else's_ nickname for me – a name that you shouldn't know." Naru's eyes glittered.

Mai just stared uncomprehendingly, confused by the odd satisfaction she heard in his arctic tone.

"But," Naru continued, anger creeping into his tone as he decided to go for broke, "Since I'm almost sure that you and Gene have been lying like rugs for months, I suppose your calling me an _idiot scientist_ is perfectly explicable."

Mai finally processed Naru's meaning... and paled. She _had_ called him an idiot scientist, hadn't she? And as far as Naru knew, Mai shouldn't have been aware of Gene's nicknames for him. She had never met Gene as 'Gene' until after Naru left Japan. "_Shimatta_," she mumbled under her breath.

So there it was. Secret #1 was hanging in the air between them.

There was utter silence in the base. Mai looked away, as if that could shield her from the turbulent mess that was Naru's aura. She didn't even want to _look_ at anyone right now. Mai hadn't wanted the others to know...

Still in the doorway, Madoka had accidentally stopped breathing. Her shocked eyes went immediately to Lin – who regarded Mai unblinkingly, and looked decidedly less shocked than Madoka felt. She gave herself a moment to inhale, before she turned her troubled gaze on Yasuhara. He was also looking at Mai - but his eyes were full of knowledge and empathy. _It was true, then_. Madoka tried to speak, but couldn't quite manage it.

For which Mai was grateful – this wasn't a discussion for everyone. She needed to talk to Naru first, _alone..._ and there was only one way to make that happen. She closed her eyes for a moment, summoning her fortitude... and walked right out of the secondary base.

-0O0-

Taniyama Mai knew it looked like she was running away. But as she race-walked to her hotel room, Mai was sure that Naru would follow her. And by the time everybody else recovered, she and Naru would have the privacy of a locked door.

_Which was probably worse_, Mai noted as she handled her keycard with shaky fingers. A moment later she gritted her teeth, reminding herself sternly that this was _her_ idea. _Telling Naru this one thing was worth keeping the transfer a secret. _

"Mai."

Even though she could _feel_ him coming, she still jumped. Without turning around, Mai responded in what she hoped was a normal voice. "Naru, I –"

"Do not insult your own intelligence by pretending everything is fine," he snapped.

Surprised, Mai whipped around to face Naru. But her denial died on her tongue as she met the gaze of the man she loved.

Naru's eyes were dark with several barely-leashed emotions, most noticeably fury. Mai's eyes skated away from his face – only to see that Naru's whole body looked_ tight_ all over. Like he was holding himself back from something. _Probably from yelling at me_, Mai reckoned. Reaching out with her senses, she was bowled over by the chaos rollicking around in Naru's aura. She concentrated a bit harder - and the chaos separated into waves of anger, determination... and pain.

And suddenly, Mai felt_ awful_. It was half her fault that Naru was in this condition.

"Come on," Mai said softly. "We can talk in my room." She slid her keycard into the slot and pushed open the heavy door. Knowing he was right behind her, Mai walked over to the window and stared out into the darkness.

Her interrogator wasted no time. "Tell me the truth, Mai," Naru demanded harshly. "Can you see Gene?"

Mai's voice dried up - she hadn't heard him get so angry since the days of SPR Japan. And this subject had to be dearer to him than any of those had been. _Why did I think this was a good idea again?_

"Mai." This time, Naru's fierceness was undercut by sorrow.

_Right, that's why_. "Yes," she whispered. "I can."

She_ felt_ the tension in Naru's aura break, but he didn't speak for several seconds. "Why didn't you tell me?" he finally asked, his cool voice a few degrees chillier than normal.

"I..." What was she going to say? Should she tell him –

"The _truth_, Mai. Stop playing games with me. You already know why you kept it from me, so you shouldn't need time to figure it out."

Mai smiled despite the situation. That was Naru, alright – going straight in for the kill. And totally right, of course. She took a deep breath. "Because he asked me not to," she replied honestly.

"Who's 'he,' Mai?" Naru rasped. If she had a relationship (of whatever kind) with his twin, she should be able to manage his name.

Despite his unforgiving mood, Naru's gut twisted painfully as Mai turned around, eyes swimming with tears and body taut with nerves. "Because Gene asked me not to," she clarified softly.

His former assistant blinked slowly, and a shimmery tear slipped down her cheek. Mai wiped it away with a black-gloved hand, and Naru lost the threads of his rage. The whole scene reminded him of the other two times they'd spoken about Gene – both of which were depressing as well as illuminating. _This was painful for her, too_, he reminded himself. Naru took a moment to regain his vaunted composure before speaking in a more measured voice. "Why would he do that, do you think?"

Mai looked up in surprise at Naru's suddenly more civil tone, and immediately became locked in the deep waters of his eyes. It was like they had some gravitational pull that she'd been unaware of until meeting his gaze. They just stared at one another for a whole minute before Mai remembered that he'd (rather calmly) asked her a question. "He – I mean _Gene_," she corrected quickly. "Gene thinks you're worried about his not crossing over."

Naru's eyes sparked. "_Of course I am_," he told her feelingly, before realizing that he was talking out loud. He almost never shared his troubles with others this way. _But_, _as usual_, _something about Mai disarms me_. Naru noticed that Mai looked as shocked as he felt at his admission. But instead of shutting down emotionally, he elected to keep this conversation going – since Mai was actually telling him things. So Naru continued (more guardedly). "Gene should not remain a ghost. As you – and Gene – well know, the longer he stays, the more likely his spirit will warp into something... undesirable." Naru forced several visions of such undesirable spirits away, trying not to imagine his brother as one of them.

If anyone asked Mai later why she'd done it, she'd tell them the nerves had made her temporarily crazy. But Mai couldn't _not_ cross the small gulf between herself and Naru, and once there, latch onto Naru's arm. She just had to do it. She'd hardly ever seen Naru look so... vulnerable before. And she knew he was telling her something important, something he was very worried over. Mai was also suddenly and perhaps irrationally mad at Gene for being so stubborn.

And _of course_ she had to touch Naru with her right hand – her _ungloved _hand. Mai gritted her teeth as tingling warmth shot up her arm, her own aura reacting to the nearness of the person to whom she was bound, spiritually _and_ emotionally. Mai willed her scar-marks not to glow and give them away, though – if Naru was this upset over her ability to contact Gene, she didn't even want to think about how bad his reaction to _other_ secrets would be.

By the time Mai was sure her powers were under control, Naru had shifted slightly under her hand. Mai looked up to find him wearing a look of total confusion. _Duh_, Naru didn't really _do_ touching – her gesture probably didn't comfort him the way she'd meant it to. "Sorry," Mai said quickly, almost ripping herself away.

She twirled to face the hotel room window again. Beyond a couple of buildings, Mai could see the edge of the sea. The dark water glistened in the light of the moon, and Mai took a deep, relaxing breath. Something about the water always soothed her. Bou-san claimed it was the training she'd gotten under her first _onmyouji_ master. Ayako said it was because the dark blue of deep water reminded Mai of Naru's eyes. Mai figured they were both right. "I haven't stayed this close to water since the Yoshimi case," she said softly, desperate to say something and cut down on her embarrassment (as well as distract herself from the tingling of her aura).

It didn't work, as Naru chose that moment to approach the window himself. The entire right side of her body buzzed with electricity as Naru came up behind her. Mai could only hope that he didn't _know_, somehow. The link between them positively thrummed with energy... but then again, he'd never noticed it before. Mai wondered whether Naru would be able to feel the connection once the transfer was truly 'complete.'

"Yes, you have," Naru argued in a quiet voice.

Mai turned to face him, eyebrow up.

"My parents' estate includes a lake," he reminded her. "You can see it from the window of the guest room you stayed in."

Mai grinned. "I meant the ocean," she said, a giddy laugh escaping her throat.

"Then you should have said so," Naru replied, his usual patronizing tone making its re-entrance. He noted that Mai seemed more normal – indeed, she rolled her eyes and scoffed at his 'bad behavior.' It was arguably safe to resume questioning. "How exactly does Gene tie his visits with you into my desire that he cross over?" Naru asked, staring determinedly out the window and not at the newly re-frozen Mai.

She sighed – she should have known it wasn't over. "He says you'll think that he's in greater danger of 'going negative' if he continues to stick around and act as my spirit guide."

"Spirit guide?" Naru asked in slight disbelief. Didn't she mean 'boyfriend?' "My brother considers himself your _spirit guide?_"

Mai frowned – why did that seem to affect Naru so badly? "Yes... he's always said so."

"Always," Naru repeated. "So you mean to say that Gene's appearances did not resume recently?"

His voice sounded worryingly closed-off all of a sudden. "N-no," Mai stammered, feeling wrong-footed but not sure how to find her step. "I mean, there was a break in his appearances after you... left, but a few months later, I saw him during a case I did with Bou-san."

Naru's lips thinned. That would mean that Mai and Gene had been meeting for almost two years now. And the ease with which Mai spoke of Gene's interference in her life led Naru to believe that they met often. _Although_, he thought fairly_, both Mai and Gene were open, friendly people_. It would actually be stranger if they _weren't_ comfortable with each other by now. Yet the twisting in Naru's chest did not abate. "And you didn't think his reappearance qualified as my concern?" he asked, quiet menace in his tone.

"What was I supposed to do?" Mai responded to the danger she could feel in Naru's aura by getting rather upset herself. "Call you using the phone number you wouldn't give me?"

"You could have called Madoka," Naru argued. "I'm sure you must have had a spare minute at some point during the last two years."

So it was back to angry? Fine by her. Mai had a couple of bones to pick about this subject anyway. "What about the year before that, when I worked for you? I'm sure that _you_ had a spare minute to explain that 'Kazuya Shibuya' was secret-code-language for 'Dr. Oliver Davis!'"

"I had to keep my identity a secret because..." Naru began.

"Yeah, I know," Mai bit out. "Don't worry, _Gene_ explained it to me!" She had the satisfaction of seeing the normally unassailable Naru flinch. He actually seemed to have to search for something to say - and then his eyes narrowed to slits.

"I'm gratified that discussing me was a priority during your time together, Mai. If only you'd thought to return the favor and discussed Gene with me." Naru was treading a thin line between righteous indignation and childish jabs.

"It's not like you didn't know he was still around!" Mai shot back. "You see Gene in mirrors. You just saw him last week!"

Whatever Naru had been about to say next promptly flew out of his brain. "How do you know about that?" he asked, slightly shocked.

"He told me!" Mai yelled. "Obviously."

"Of course he did, because the two of you have been _colluding_ to make sure the _spirit guiding_ continues without interference from me!" Naru couldn't quite understand the hurt spearing his insides. Others of his acquaintance – Luella and Madoka, for example – were constantly coming up with covert plans that he wasn't privy to. Why was this so much more painful?

Mai seemed just as confused as he did. She gaped at him, hurt and sorrow swimming in her soulful eyes. Then she closed them and turned away. "I'm sorry," she said, deep emotion in her voice.

Following the line of Mai's profile in the still-dark room, Naru unwillingly found his fury abating. Her obvious emotional response to his reaction undercut his anger at her collusive and deceitful behavior.

Especially since 'deceitful' didn't really fit into Mai's list of sins. For all of his suspicions, Naru had never actually _asked_ Mai if she could still see Gene. It was possible that a direct query could have brought this to a head long ago (although Naru doubted it). A better word was _concealing_ – Mai hadn't been lying so much as leaving things out – concealing Gene's lingering presence in her life.

'Collusive' was definitely the right word, though. Mai and Gene had undoubtedly – by Mai's own admission – colluded to keep Naru from knowing about their continued interactions. However, Mai was quite obviously _not_ the mastermind behind this scheme.

No, that honor belonged to his twin – who was aware that Naru was worried about him, who pretended not to hear Naru's questions, and who had asked Mai to keep his secrets for him. And while Naru had only been in contact with Mai for the last couple of months, Gene had kept quiet on this very important subject for almost two years. Naru remembered whole cases going by without hearing from his medium brother – and Gene's subsequent explanations that he was too tired to appear. With newly-opened eyes, Naru wondered whether Gene was 'tired' from a furtive trip to Mai's dreams.

Gene Davis was making an appearance in Naru's mirror tonight, even if Naru had to stand in front of it all night yelling his twin's name.

"Naru?" Mai asked, as if from far away. "I'm... sorry I didn't tell you sooner." She was obviously misinterpreting his visible anger with Gene for anger with her. Before Naru could correct her, she continued. "It's just... I _owe_ Gene. He's helped me on cases for years, he's helped me save TTMPI, and he's trained me up quite a bit. And whatever it is he's waiting around for – and no, he won't tell me what – he's serious about it. I couldn't just screw that and tell you after he begged me not to."

This bout of information rather overloaded Naru's circuits, and he took a moment to process each piece of data.

One – Mai was very grateful to Gene. This was to be expected, as Mai was a very caring person - so Naru wasn't exactly sure why this assertion stung him the way it did. Then, as he considered Mai's examples of Gene's helpfulness, the stinging became explicable. It was the same annoying sense of regret that Naru felt whenever he heard about stupid accidents that Mai got herself into after he'd left.

Gene was there to help Mai when he, the great Oliver Davis, _wasn't_.

Although he _did_ have important reasons for remaining in England, there was nothing which _forced_ Naru to sever all contact with his acquaintances in Japan. He _could_ have overcome his pride (and his surprisingly deep _regret)_ to keep in touch with Ma – with everyone.

Gene had helped Mai on cases that Naru _could_ have assisted with (even by phone from the English SPR office). Naru _could_ have helped Mai 'save' TTMPI... pressing his lips together, Naru almost refused to think about what the dangers of 'saving' TTMPI entailed. After all, the injuries Mai had sustained on this case were pretty extensive – yet she acted like it was nothing. That attitude came with experience, as Naru well knew.

As for Gene's training Mai... that one _really_ rankled, because that had nothing to do with Naru's absence post-Japan. Naru should have started Mai's training himself, _before_ the SPR office in Japan had closed. It was obvious even then that Mai had significant psychic gifts.

To be fair, Naru _had_ been obsessed with finding Gene's body – almost to the point of refusing interesting cases if he felt they interfered with his larger purpose. But he_ could_ have instituted some training sessions for her. _At the very least, it would have given Lin something to do besides watch me like a hawk_, he thought dryly. Naru had to leave Madoka in charge of closing SPR Japan in order to accompany his grieving parents back to England... but when Madoka had returned to London, Naru just buried his questions and regrets. Now he regretted it all over again.

A slight movement in his eye-line brought Naru back to the world outside his head. Mai was now standing before him, biting her lip and scratching at her splinted finger. She was obviously waiting for a response to her apology. Naru briefly considered forcing her to wait – after all, he'd waited over a _month_ for confirmation of his hypothesis. However, Naru's guilt over Gene's having done what Naru considered _his_ responsibility stayed his anger. "I... understand your reasoning, Mai. But the fate of Gene's spirit is... of utmost importance to me. I need to know as much as possible in order to facilitate his crossing over."

Mai swallowed what felt like a rock in her throat. "I – I know, Naru. I'm worried about him, too." That must have been the wrong thing to say, because Naru froze again. She hurried to say something else. "I really don't know why he's still here. He won't tell me, either." Mai heaved a sigh of relief as Naru unfroze and looked pensively out the window.

Naru's mind was working furiously. So Gene wouldn't tell Mai, just like he evaded Naru's own veiled questions on the subject. Perhaps Gene thought that Mai would cave and tell his unhappy twin (considering the current discussion, such a fear would be well-founded). Perhaps Gene thought the _jourei_-enthusiast would try to help him move on once she knew his 'unfinished business.' Either way, Naru was simultaneously frustrated and satisfied; frustrated not to have gained any further insight from Mai, and satisfied that Gene was not sharing _that_ much more information with Mai than with his own twin.

This last thought gave Naru an idea. The sick feeling in his chest was probably caused by childish jealousy over Gene's being more open with Mai than with him. Gene had always been the person closest to Naru; it had always been himself and Gene against the world. In some ways, it still was. Perhaps the thought of losing some of that closeness to another person was causing Naru's troublingly emotional reaction. Gene's_ relationship_ with Mai directly excluded Naru from the equation. As if to support his theory, the sick feeling rose within him again.

Ignoring it, Naru spoke. "Do you think you'll see him again on this case?"

"No," Mai replied, shaking her head. "Gene didn't think this case would require two visits. He thought it was pretty easy." She rolled her eyes.

_He may change his mind about another visit once I'm through with him_, Naru thought darkly. He almost told Mai that Gene might appeal to her for succor – but Naru found himself annoyed at the thought, and instead chose to ask about the case. "Easy?"

"Yes, and he all but told me there was only one ghost. Ugh!" Mai was still furious with herself. "He did say that he had no idea what to do about an exorcism, and that I should rely on you, Madoka, and Lin for that."

"How magnanimous of him," Naru replied, sarcasm lining his words.

Mai fought a smile. Naru sounded back to normal... and strangely enough, it almost _felt_ normal to talk with him about Gene. "So I guess we're on our own," she offered blithely.

Naru was surprised to see Mai's eyes twinkling, and to hear a smile in her voice. "I suppose," he replied slowly, not quite understanding her sudden mood change. He didn't understand the annoying warmth in his own chest, either. "Go to bed, Mai," he ordered suddenly. It was time to escape. "We'll discuss the exorcism in the morning."

"Yes, _Boss!_" Mai called after him, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. _That could have gone worse._

Naru couldn't help but smirk at her as he closed the door. _I suppose that could have gone worse._

-0O0-

AN: Okay, folks, here's your next chapter! I hope you guys like it, because I am going to be super-tired for work tomorrow:P So, Naru knows some things now... silly Mai, thinking that it will keep him from wondering about anything else she might be hiding;)


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Manga 12 would be out in English...**

**Chapter 23 – The Ripple Effect**

**-0O0-**

Madoka looked up in surprise as Yasuhara and Lin slumped back into base. Both men were still in day clothes and wore frustrated expressions. "What's wrong? All the excitement give you guys insomnia?"

"Hardly," Lin muttered. He collapsed onto the base's couch and stared sullenly at the wall.

As her boyfriend was apparently determined to be useless, Madoka turned her questioning gaze on Yasu.

"We won't be getting any sleep until Big Boss has finished yelling," the teen explained.

"What?" Madoka asked, alarmed. "I thought he and Mai-chan were okay!" The lead investigator and her protégée had given Mai and Noll about two minutes of privacy before sneaking down the hall after them. Just to make sure that Noll wasn't killing Mai, of course, and_ totally_ not to eavesdrop...

Neither wannabe-spy had been able to hear much in the end, but there certainly hadn't been enough yelling to warrant Madoka's intervention. Noll had even looked _mostly_ alright upon leaving the girls' room. (For the second it took him to realize that she and Yasu were eavesdropping. Then his face went all super-pissed again.)

"Maybe Naru's forgiven Mai-chan," Yasuhara allowed. "But he and Gene-san are definitely _not _okay. By the time we got to our room, Big Boss was standing in front of the mirror, looking scarily thunderous. And he kicked us out!"

"Naturally," Madoka murmured. Noll much preferred to be alone when he spoke with his twin.

"We were waiting in the hall," Yasu continued. "But Big Boss has been yelling at Gene-san for at least ten minutes, and shows no sign of stopping anytime soon."

Madoka pursed her lips. "Don't you dare tell Noll I said this," she warned. "But I really don't blame him for being upset. There's really no legitimate reason for all this secrecy."

Yasuhara shook his head. "Gene-san seems to feel differently," he noted. "And Mai-chan kept it quiet because he asked her to."

"Which is undoubtedly why Taniyama-san is mostly off the hook," Lin surmised. "She's hardly the deceiving type."

"But neither is... _was..._ Gene, though," Madoka argued sadly.

Lin's cheek twitched. "That is not entirely true. Gene was secretive when he wanted to be." _I should know_, the _onmyouji_ thought guiltily.

"But he hardly ever hid things from _Noll_," Madoka insisted. Then an idea struck her. "Perhaps _that's_ what has Oliver so upset. If Gene's personality has changed, then..." She paused, reluctant to suggest it aloud. "Then maybe... his spirit is in danger."

"Mai-chan says his spirit is okay," Yasu assured Madoka. "Both she and Ayako have been monitoring the situation. Ayako checked with the trees, and Mai-chan's senses are very keen... even if her judgment might not be as consistent."

Madoka felt a moment's comfort... before Yasuhara's unexpected wealth of knowledge on the subject annoyed her all over again. "Yasu – you_ knew_ about all this, didn't you?" she accused, waving a hand towards the hotel rooms in which Mai and Naru were closeted.

Yasuhara eyes went sharp – before the glare from his glasses hid his expression entirely. "Yes," he replied flatly.

"And yet you told me nothing?" Madoka asked incredulously.

"It wasn't my business to tell," Yasu replied evenly.

"Like that's ever stopped either of us before!"

"Yes, it has," Yasuhara contested calmly. "For instance, I haven't given you the rundown of Mai-chan's recent romantic history – even though you've asked me about it. And I won't, because Mai-chan specifically requested my silence on the matter. I didn't say anything about Gene-san for the same reason. Besides..." Yasu stared into the nearest monitor. "Like Mai-chan said... she owes Gene-san. Well, so do Bou-san, Ayako, and I. Gene-san's given us a lot of help. If our silence was what he wanted in return, then I had no qualms about keeping my mouth shut."

Lin shifted in his chair, knowing that his next statements would probably land him in trouble. "I respect your decision, Yasuhara-san," he said decisively. His gaze shifted to Madoka. "And we really have no right to protest."

"_What?_" His girlfriend's eyes bugged out.

"Consider, Madoka," Lin challenged. "The employees of SPR Japan worked a whole year without even knowing their boss' real name." He raised an eyebrow. "And you and I_ both_ went along with it."

The master ghost hunter actually looked contrite for a moment. "I guess that's true."

"It's not fair to lambast Yasuhara-san for something that both of us have done to him," Lin intoned. "Gene undoubtedly has a reason for keeping Noll in the dark. And remember, this is not the first time he has been mysteriously silent on important matters."

"What do you mean?" Yasu asked curiously.

"I'm sure you know that Gene repeatedly appeared to Taniyama-san during the days of SPR Japan," Lin explained. "So why didn't Gene tell her who he was? Or where his body was? Or _anything?_"

"Mai-chan _has_ asked him about that," Yasuhara revealed. "Gene-san told her that if Naru wasn't saying anything, he figured he should follow suit."

"I suppose that makes sense, given the circumstances." Madoka said thoughtfully.

Yasu shrugged noncommittally. "Yeah, I thought so."

Lin stayed silent, unconvinced. Noll had a good reason for not revealing his identity in Japan; he was on a personal mission that involved a murder and a cover-up. There was no guarantee that Gene's killer had not known (or found out) the name of her victim. If the famous Oliver Davis' name and face had made headlines, Noll could have been in danger.

But Gene had no such excuse. He had obviously realized that Mai was regularly interacting with Noll, so telling her his identity posed little threat. Gene certainly had no qualms with giving Mai case information. Logically, Gene _should_ have said something – especially since he knew (through Mai) that Noll was working in Japan. Gene must have known that Noll had come to find him. Any way Lin looked at it, if Gene had just told Mai the truth, his body would have been found a lot quicker.

_So then why hadn't he?_

Lin stared at Mai's notes on the table, abandoned in her haste to leave the base. Scattered and out of order, like the pieces of this puzzle,. There _had _to be a deeper reason for Gene's initial refusal to inform Mai that he was Oliver's twin. Similarly, there had to be a reason Gene did not want Noll to know about his continuing meetings with Mai. It had to be important, if Gene went so far as to ask Mai to lie for him.

And speaking of Mai... there was still the possibility that her PK-MT glowed when in use. Once again, she could have just neglected to mention it... but something told Lin that there was something more to it. Just like there was more to this business with Gene.

_The mysteries were simply piling up_, Lin thought. Interesting, that they were piled around Mai Taniyama – one of the least deceptive people he had ever encountered. Lin's lips twitched. In an ironic twist of fate, the roles established at SPR Japan had switched. Mai (and likely Yasuhara) held the secrets... while Naru, Lin, and Madoka tried to sort through the clues. "Not so rosy on the other side of the door," he murmured.

"Koujo, are you still with us?" Madoka's annoyed voice asked.

As Lin dutifully rejoined the conversation, he decided _not_ to tell his girlfriend about his suspicions. He felt these situations needed to be handled subtly. Madoka tended to go after answers like a hound after a fox - ruthlessly and noisily. Lin and Oliver were going to have a hard enough time convincing her not to blab to the professor.

Telling Professor Davis that his deceased son was hanging around in the afterlife would require care and discretion. And while Madoka certainly cared, 'discretion' was not in her functional vocabulary.

Yasuhara's voice broke into Lin's thoughts. "Hey, Madoka-san," he called. "How about I take over watching the base for tonight?"

"Are you_ that_ afraid of Noll's temper?" Madoka queried, laughing.

"While I'm surely next on the list of interrogation subjects," Yasu mused, "That's not it." He looked thoughtfully out the open door and into the empty hallway, an oddly conflicted look on his face.

Madoka had reached the end of her patience for information-concealment. "Yasu, if there's a problem –"

"It's Mai-chan," Yasuhara cut across her. "I think someone should be in the room with her tonight."

"In case Noll goes back for Round Two?" Madoka's tone was light, but her eyes were serious.

"No," Yasuhara replied slowly, his eyes a mix of concern and trepidation. "But Mai-chan might..." he trailed off, thinking things over. _They already know she sees Gene-san_, his rational side argued. _It's only a matter of time before they figure out the dreams._ _And what if Mai-chan DOES have the dream tonight? She'll be alone in the room, screaming and choking._

That decided it. Mai would probably be angry with him later, but Yasuhara really didn't want her dealing with The Nightmare alone. She'd had a turbulent enough night already. "Mai-chan might have her death dream tonight," Yasu revealed. "And I don't want her to be alone if it happens."

"But didn't she have it last week?" Madoka asked, confused. According to the 'schedule,' the next vision should still be a week off.

"Yes, she did," Yasuhara replied slowly. "But..." He paused and looked straight into Madoka's eyes. "Sometimes the dream is brought on by thinking about Gene-san before sleeping... and after everything that's happened tonight, Mai-chan's _got_ to be thinking about him." Not to mention Gene's spirit was right down the hall. If proximity had anything to do with it, Mai-chan was toast.

"Huh?" Madoka was totally lost. "Why would thinking about Gene prompt Mai-chan's death dream?" _That would indicate that Gene was somehow connected to the dead person that Mai saw in the vision..._ Madoka noticed that Yasuhara was still staring straight at her, as if silently willing her to understand something... _oh_. Her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh, _no_." Madoka shook her head, hoping that she misunderstood Yasu's cues.

No such luck, as Yasuhara nodded slowly. "Mai-chan didn't want anyone – _especially_ Naru – to know who the dream was about. She knew it would upset everybody."

So... then Mai had been forced to watch... no, to _feel_ Gene die in psychic visions every couple of weeks? "_Oh_, how_ horrible_," Madoka moaned. Forget how it upset anyone else – how did Mai get _through_ that?

Despite her earlier rant about information-sharing, SPR's lead investigator completely understood Mai's desire to keep _this _from Noll. And from Luella, for that matter. No wonder Mai had been so adamant that she would handle the visions alone when Ayako left. She was probably afraid she'd let Luella (who was slated as Mai's new wake-up helper) know somehow... "Tomorrow I'm going to buy Mai-chan twenty sets of gloves in every color," Madoka decided, sounding oddly like she had a stuffy nose. "And I'm going to take you up on that offer to watch the base, Yasu. Someone_ should_ be with Mai-chan, just in case."

Lin was feeling rather overcome himself. Mai had been dealing with recurring dreams of Gene's death... for over a _year?_ And she'd hidden it from everyone of Gene's acquaintance, in order to spare _them_ the pain. Lin suddenly felt foolish; he had underestimated the teen psychic.

As Madoka came towards him, Lin held out his notes. "Take these," he told her blankly, "Something to read." His girlfriend smiled through sad eyes, and Lin's fingers felt numb as she slid the papers from his hand.

And then the _shiki_ he'd sent to watch over Mai came rocketing into the room, bearing an urgent message for its master.

-0O0-

"What were you thinking?" Naru yelled into the mirror. The image inside it - a slightly younger-looking version of himself - cringed slightly. The living twin outside the mirror could sense the great internal upset which accompanied Gene's physical reaction.

"Noll, I already told you –"

"Already told me _what_, Gene?" the normally composed Davis twin hissed. "That you didn't mean to hurt me? That's a lie. You purposely misled me for almost _two years_, on a matter of _great_ importance! There is no way you thought that I wouldn't be… _displeased_." Naru refused to label his feelings as 'hurt.'

Unfortunately, Gene saw (or rather _heard_) right through that. "The world's not going to end if you admit you're hurt, Noll," he alleged. "You wouldn't be yelling at me if you were merely _displeased_." His twin flashed a smile. "By the way, saying you're 'displeased' makes you sound like a pompous ass."

"Then it should be right on target with the general opinion of my demeanor," Naru grumbled. His many arguments with Mai over attitude came unbidden to his mind.

Which _of course_ Gene picked up on. "Mai-chan doesn't think you're a pompous ass... well, maybe she does," he admitted, lips twitching. "But she knows there's a lot more to you than your inability to agreeably interact with others."

Naru knew his brother was correct. Mai _was_ genuinely fond of him, despite her often-aired grievances with his behavior. This affection sometimes confused Naru... especially since he now knew that Mai had regular clandestine meetings with the more amiable and caring Davis twin. Naru gritted his teeth.

"Noll, are you serious?" Gene asked incredulously, watching his twin go tense all over and reading his incredibly misguided thoughts. His genius brother_ still_ thought that Mai...?

Gene's disbelieving expression reminded Naru that he was broadcasting his uncomfortable suppositions right to the person they concerned. He slammed his mental walls up in a flash, and forcibly wiped all emotion from his face. "Of course it wouldn't be my business," Naru said rather tightly. "Except that any... strong emotional attachment... to a living person will only increase the probability that you will linger in this state."

The spirit in the mirror stared. _What exactly was Noll insinuating?_ "Noll, the living person I'm most emotionally attached to is _you_," he pointed out. When Oliver blanched at the implications, Gene hurried to add, "But that's not what's keeping me here."

"Then what_ is_ keeping you here?" Naru asked demandingly.

_Suppose I walked right into that one_, Gene thought. "Things," he replied vaguely.

"Things?" Naru repeated, eyes narrow. "As in more than one 'thing' is tying you to this earth?"

_Damn it_, Gene thought. This was why he wanted Noll to know as little as possible! _But_, he reminded himself, _keeping the transfer a secret – until the right moment, anyway – was worth having to work a little harder to keep his twin guessing_. "Maybe," Gene answered evasively, hoping his insouciant tone would incense Noll enough that he'd start yelling again and leave off Gene's unfinished business... _nope, didn't work_. Noll's body tensed and he gritted his teeth again.

"Don't even try it," Naru hissed. "I have had enough of people trying to elude me tonight. Speaking of which, I do not appreciate your teaching Mai the finer points of evasion and concealment. It doesn't suit her."

Gene took that as, 'Don't pollute my Mai's wonderfulness with your sneaky skills.' He bit back a grin. "She's only doing it as a favor to me, idiot scientist. Mai-chan doesn't _like_ lying to you. I'm sure she'll go back to her bright, shiny self straightaway."

And Mai _would_ probably be much happier, now that at least one secret was out of the way. Knowing Noll was onto her had only freaked Mai out. Freed from the guilt and anxiety of lying to Oliver, Mai would probably be even lighter and brighter than her usual. _That should go a long way toward improving Noll's temper_, Gene reckoned.

Indeed, Gene's assertions had already penetrated his twin's wall of anger – Noll's posture relaxed slightly, and his eyes went soft.

Taking advantage of this change, Gene tried to make peace. "Look, Noll, I'm sorry. I don't _want_ to lie to you... but you're forcing me to." Noll opened his mouth, but Gene kept talking. "I _am_ going to wait until my 'unfinished business' is accomplished, and nothing you can say is going to change that. I was a medium in life and am very well aware of the risks associated with my actions – and I am _not_ currently in danger of going to the bad."

Naru huffed, deliberately thinking about several of the nastier degenerated spirits they'd dealt with over the years.

Gene sighed at the barrage of mental images he received from Noll's head. "Mai-chan would notice any change in that regard, and will likely report it you immediately." He ignored Noll's snort of derision in favor of fixing his brother with a very serious look. "I'll leave when I have to, Noll. But until then, I _will_ remain Mai's spirit guide and your psychically-linked twin. And if you weren't such a bugger about all this, I would have told you about meeting with Mai-chan long ago."

"Gene..." Naru started.

"I _know_ it's because you love me, Noll," his twin continued feelingly. "And I'd likely have gotten just as worked up if it was you hanging around after..." he trailed off, overcome. Noll looked similarly afflicted.

A long moment later, Gene rallied. "But trust me, will you? And trust Mai-chan."

"You're both making it very hard," Naru replied dryly.

"We both have your best interests at heart," Gene said cryptically.

"What is that supposed to..." Naru's train of thought derailed as Gene suddenly shuddered violently. "What's wrong?" Gene had _just_ _said_ there was no reason to worry.

"It's Mai-chan," Gene replied, turning to look at something Naru couldn't see. "I guess all the arguing about me set it off."

"Set _what_ off?" Naru demanded.

"Mai's vision," Gene answered. His eyes were remorseful. "The one she has about me."

Naru's breath hitched. "Mai told me that thinking about you can force it early."

Gene nodded morosely. "I know. I'm _still_ sorry about it. Tell her for me, will you?"

"Tell her what?" Naru noticed that the outlines of Gene's reflection had gone hazy.

"That I'm sorry for – never mind. Go and wake her up, Noll, before it gets too... far." Gene started to fade away. "She gets sick if she stays in it for too long."

The awful memory of Mai retching in the guest bathroom filled Naru's ears. He jerked his head in a quick nod of farewell and sprinted from the room.

-0O0-

Koujo Lin jumped to attention. "My _shiki_ advises that Taniyama-san is experiencing psychic issues."

"It's the death dream," Yasuhara asserted. "You guys go, I'll watch the base." He figured that any lasting anger would fade once Lin and Madoka saw the after-effects of Mai's vision through new eyes. Yasu threw Madoka a bottle of soda from the mini-fridge. "Make Mai-chan drink that if she throws up!"

"Right," Madoka nodded. She grabbed Lin's hand, and the two rushed out of base.

As they made to run down the hall, however, the door to the boys' room burst open and Naru came flying out. He bolted across the floor, skidded to a stop in front of the room Mai and Madoka shared... and was thwarted by an unanticipated problem.

"Getting the key card usually helps, Noll," Madoka noted, huffing slightly as she came up behind him.

"And deprive you of exercise you obviously need?" a tense Naru shot back.

Madoka's retort was swallowed by a shrill scream from inside the room. Luckily, long years of cool behavior under pressure made Madoka a sure hand with the key card.

Naru turned the handle and brushed right past his former teacher into the room. "Mai!" he barked.

The girl in question was frozen stiff underneath the covers. Suddenly, Mai's whole body jerked violently from the torso outwards. A second later, it happened again. As if someone very strong had dealt her a one-two punch... or something with two axles had rolled over her. Naru fought down his own horrible memories and took Mai's limp shoulders. "Mai, wake up!"

She only screamed louder in response. Then Mai started to cry, clawing with her fingers at something none of them could see.

Lin saw that Naru wasn't getting through to Mai. He also knew that letting this go on any longer was bad for everyone, including his abnormally shaken-looking girlfriend. When Martin had told Lin about the nightmare Mai experienced during her first night in England, he'd also mentioned the method used to snap her out of it. Lin wasn't thrilled with the idea of slapping Mai across the face, but they were running out of time. Unless...

The _onmyouji_ whistled. Instantly, one of his _shiki_ whizzed into the room. Lin considered – he couldn't have it fly_ through_ Mai, as that might harm her. So instead, Lin ordered that his servant fly just close enough to create a psychic disturbance. Hopefully, that would break the hold of the dream...

...and Lin breathed a quiet sigh of relief as Mai Taniyama shot up in bed. She was wide-eyed and terrified, but obviously awake.

Mai didn't realize where she was at first, only that she was suddenly _not_ locked in the trunk of a car and feebly scrabbling for a way out. Her legs also worked again, so... she was definitely not in the dream anymore.

Her overwhelming sense of relief lasted only for a moment, though, as it gave way to the crushing recollection that such assistance had never come for Gene. Mai fell back against the headboard, put her face in her hands, and cried.

Socially inept as he was, Naru knew he should do something to console Mai. He _was_ sitting right beside her, after all... but more importantly, he was also the one who best understood Mai's current hysteria. But_ what _to do? Naru was not accustomed to comforting people... and he didn't feel that playing PK keep-away with a coin was going to fix Mai this time. He was also intensely conscious of the presence of Lin and Madoka.

Mai sobbed harder, and Naru suddenly wanted to order the two other ghost hunters away. Maybe he could deal with this if there weren't an _audience_. Unfortunately, it looked like Madoka was rooted in place. Lin was similarly motionless beside her; his expression as gormless as Naru assumed his own was.

And then – thankfully – Madoka took charge. She unfroze, crossed to the bed with quick strides, and pulled Mai into her arms. The distraught teen immediately buried her face in the lead investigator's shoulder.

Something in Naru's gut clenched as he watched Mai's fingers lock onto Madoka's blouse. Her hands were shaking and her non-splinted knuckles were white.

"Oh, Mai-chan," Madoka murmured, stroking her hair. "I can't believe you've been seeing..."

She trailed off, but she'd said enough for Mai to figure out that they all knew. Had Naru...?

"Mai-chan, it's over," Madoka soothed. "It's over."

"You're right," Mai whispered sadly. _Gene's life was over_.

The same thought must have occurred to Madoka, because she quickly switched tacts. "He wouldn't want you to feel like this," she said softly.

These words rang in Naru's head, and he suddenly remembered what Gene had asked him to tell Mai. "He doesn't," Naru certified. "Gene... told me to tell you he was sorry."

Mai raised her head at his words, and Naru was surprised to see her smile through watery eyes. "I know," she said softly. "But like I always tell him, it's not his fault." She blinked, and another tear slipped down her cheek.

Lin's curiosity got the better of him. "Why _would_ it be Gene's fault?"

Mai sucked in a shocked breath, and Madoka turned to glare at her idiot boyfriend.

In an effort to head off the impending argument, Naru answered the question. "Gene is her... spirit guide," he said haltingly, glancing sideways at Mai.

She nodded in agreement, wiping at her face. Mai took a moment to recover some composure before directly addressing Lin. She owed it to him, after all – Mai's instincts told her that Lin was the one who'd woken her from the nightmare. "Yes, he's my spirit guide. The psychic connection between us has gotten, um, strong enough... for me to see the vision of his death."

"A first-person vision, obviously," Lin said clinically. Caught up in his thoughts, he didn't notice Mai's face twist with pain.

Madoka's jaw dropped at her boyfriend's colossal insensitivity. She moved toward the edge of the bed, fully intending to whack him one.

"_Lin_," Naru hissed. If even _he_ knew better than to ask such questions at a time like this, then surely Lin must.

"I'm sorry, Taniyama-san," Lin apologized quickly. He hadn't actually meant to say that out loud; he was just trying to sort through the facts. "I'm just confused – Bou-san informed us that the time between visions was lengthening, which would suggest that the vision is losing its hold over you. But if the psychic connection between..."

_Even LIN pauses over the name_, Mai noted grimly.

"...Gene, and yourself has _strengthened _over time, then wouldn't the opposite be true? Wouldn't the visions come with_ increasing_ frequency?"

"I wondered about that, as well," Naru admitted quietly.

All eyes swung back to Mai.

She cleared her throat and thought quickly. "Well, yes, I suppose that would make sense. But it wasn't strictly our connection that caused the visions." She didn't want to lie again. Maybe being extra-vague would work. "The initial vision... and its recurrences... were caused by, um, a _special event_. A special event that... um, isn't happening anymore."

Naru's stomach lurched. What sort of 'special event' could have caused an emotional and psychic syncing powerful enough to give Mai lasting death visions? And also make Mai look so _flustered?_ Strangely, Naru found he could not make himself ask her.

Lin did not have such problems. "What 'event' would that be, Taniyama-san?"

This situation reminded Mai about Lin's interrogation during training... and then Mai had a brainwave. "Gene was training me," she replied. Lin had asked about the higher-level skills scattered amongst her _taolu_. "He was really the one who taught me the PK skills you noticed," she said truthfully. "Gene taught me some of his own _qigong_ techniques – which I assume were taught to him by _you_, Lin-san."

Lin's eyes widened slightly. That certainly explained a few things. He had attempted (several times) to identify exactly what bothered him about Mai's_ taolu_. She hadn't been doing anything _wrong..._ there was just something about the familiar movements that nagged at him.

And that was just it. Mai's arm movements were _familiar_. Those higher-level _taolu_ poses – the ones which Lin had noticed during Mai's first lesson – were nearly identical to the exercises he had taught Noll and Gene years ago.

Mai resisted the urge to bite her lip as she watched Lin digest this explanation. She wasn't really lying – her aura _had_ synced very closely with Gene's throughout training for the transfer. In fact, that was the goal of the training. The transfer, of course, was the actual over-synchronizing 'special event' that had accidentally caused the death visions. But it wasn't yet time for _that_ reckoning.

Still beside Mai on the bed, Naru released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. So there hadn't been any binding romantic 'event?' That was relieving. After all, it would have given Mai's and Gene's already dangerous spiritual attachment an unsafe physical component. _Well_, his scientific brain amended, _not really physical, as they both would have been spirits when..._ Naru pushed his thoughts away, feeling slightly sick. He supposed it was normal fraternal disgust at the thought of his brother... _with_ someone.

Madoka watched Noll's super-tight posture relax slightly – as he processed that no, Mai had not had spirit-sex with his dead brother. She was rather amused that Noll's mind had gone the same wayward path as her own at Mai's awkward words; he was not one to assign ambiguously-worded phrases to innuendo.

Not that Madoka actually thought that anything innuendo-worthy happened between Mai and _Gene_, of all people. Her mind just worked that way - prolonged exposure to Yasuhara was probably making it worse. Maybe Yasu was corrupting Noll's brain, too? Madoka swallowed an inappropriate giggle at the unprecedented evidence of vulgarity in the way-too-serious Oliver Davis.

Oblivious to these side dramas, Lin continued his questioning. "You're saying that Gene _was_ training you, but isn't now?"

"Right," Mai said. "I mean, he still gives me tips and stuff, but we're not hard-core training my powers during astral projections anymore."

"Why not?" Lin and Naru asked simultaneously.

Mai jumped a bit at the sudden two-prong attack. "Well, right before we came to England, I took another couple of lessons from my _onmyouji_ master in Japan... and now I'm here, where you guys are training me. I don't need_ more_ training."

"Yes, but the vision has reportedly been fading_ over time_," Naru repeated, throwing Mai's own assurances back at her. "Both of those changes are fairly recent."

"Once I had enough control over my powers, Yasu and I took the responsibility of training onto ourselves," Mai replied, a little testily. "And it's hard for Gene to stay... _awake_ for long periods of time." She studied the patterns in the blanket beneath her hands. "Besides, our training sessions were never supposed to continue indefinitely."

"You're inferring that my brother_ does_ plan on crossing over, at some point?" Naru asked, eyes sharp.

Mai couldn't help smiling at Naru's quiet persistence. She knew he'd recognize the hidden meaning in her words. "Yes," she answered. "That's what I get from him, anyway." And if Gene waited_ too_ long, Mai would enlist Naru's help – Gene would not remain stuck if they had anything to do with it.

_Wait_, Mai thought. Stuck. _He would not remain stuck. That_ was Georgie's problem, wasn't it? He was _stuck_... he always had been. Mai bit her lip, silently working up a strategy. This could be her chance to make up for misreading the haunting!

Across the room, Lin continued to scrutinize Mai. He could tell there were things she wasn't saying. And she was certainly thinking hard about something right now...

The _onmyouji's_ girlfriend narrowed her eyes. Koujo was about to ask more callous questions, wasn't he? Madoka slid off the bed, walked over to Lin... and pinched his arm _really_ hard. She had the satisfaction of seeing the stoical man wince in pain. "Shut it, jerk," she hissed. It had been a very rough night, and Mai and Noll looked mostly calm now. Madoka was _not_ letting Lin ruin it!

"Thank you," a quiet voice said from behind her. Madoka looked back to see Mai smiling softly. "All of you," she added, twisting her hands in the bedclothes.

Madoka smiled warmly back. "No problem, Mai-chan," she replied feelingly. She was_ totally _buying Mai twenty pairs of gloves in every color.

Meanwhile, Naru surfaced from deep thoughts to realize that he was the only one still on the bed with Mai. He stood immediately, and crossed quickly (but smoothly) to the door before addressing his former teacher. "Madoka, you should stay with Mai tonight. I will watch the base."

"How pleasingly unselfish of you, Noll," Madoka enthused. "But I already decided that I'm staying - and that Yasu's watching the base. You did base duty last night." She could tell that he was going to argue. "Get some rest, Noll. We're doing the exorcism in the morning, and I want all of our spiritualists on target for that." It was really that Noll needed a good night's sleep after all this drama... but Madoka figured he wouldn't take well to her saying so.

Luckily, Noll appeared to accept her reasoning. "Fine," he assented shortly. Oliver's eyes lingered for a moment on Mai before he left the room.

After shooing the still-in-trouble Lin out the door, Madoka threw the TV remote at Mai. "Watch something; it'll distract you," she instructed. "And then you need to sleep, too, Mai-chan. We've got work to do in the morning."

"Yeah, I know," Mai replied, ducking her head. "Sorry I messed up the schedule." Before Madoka could disagree, Mai spoke again. "But on the bright side, I think I've figured out how to get Georgie to cross over."

-0O0-

_"NOOOOOOOOO!"_

_"Georgie! Georgie, are you...? AAAAAAAAH!"_

_Slow footsteps, and the hissing sound of something dragging across the floor..._

Silence for a moment. Then, like a song on repeat, it started again.

_"NOOOOOOOOO!"_

-0O0-

Mai's eyes popped open, and she gasped for breath. Her ears rang with screaming... two people screaming, over and over again in her head.

After a minute, the screams became quieter. Sometimes Mai's psychic dreaming didn't cut off cleanly upon waking. Sometimes it took a couple extra minutes. Over and over again, the same screams_. I was right_, Mai thought with some satisfaction. _He's stuck_.

"Mai-chan?" Madoka asked sleepily. "You okay?" Mai's bed bounced a bit as Madoka sat up and shifted towards her. The master ghost hunter had pushed her bed right up against Mai's - so that she'd wake if Mai did.

"Yes," Mai said softly. "More dreams. Not _that_ dream, though," she added quickly.

"About the case, then?"

"Mm-hm." Mai closed her eyes and the screams got louder. "I think I should stay awake for a little while," she groaned. "If I go back to sleep now, I'll just keeping hearing them."

"Hearing?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm listening to Georgie's death, over and over again."

"That sucks," Madoka commiserated. "But it does gel with your 'stuck' theory."

"I think that's what prompted the dream," Mai replied. "My instincts work that way sometimes - if I'm right about a hunch, or if I'm looking for some particular information, my dreaming gets more on-target."

"That's helpful," Madoka noted. "We should probably have hooked you up to the EEG tonight. I forgot, with all the excitement."

"Well, we could do it now," Mai suggested. "I have the feeling I'm going to dream some more."

A pause. "Nah," Madoka replied. "Another time."

She sounded kind of... off. Mai frowned. "It's really okay. I'm over my issues with the electrodes, and we'd probably get good data."

Another pause. "But Mai-chan, what if..._that_ dream comes again? Lin and Noll don't want to tell Martin..." _And Professor Davis' finding out about Gene through a data scan would be awful._

Mai rolled over to face Madoka. The room was dim, but Mai could still see the hesitant expression in her eyes. "You wouldn't be able to tell I was dreaming about Gene, Madoka-san. You were the one who told me, remember? You don't get names and pictures from the scans."

Madoka nodded thoughtfully. Then her eyes widened. "Wait,_ that's _who you were worried about?"

"Huh?" Mai was lost.

"Yasu and I thought you were worried about the scans showing us your pervy dreams about Noll!"

Mai choked. "Madoka-san! Don't say it like that!"

"Why not? Because it embarrasses you? Or because you think Noll can somehow hear me?" Madoka felt much better being on the edge of laughter than tears.

"Madoka-saaaaaan!"

"You know I'll only stop if you tell me."

Mai buried her face in a pillow, hoping the material would cool her burning face. Plus, she wouldn't have to look at Madoka when she answered. "When I asked you about it... I was thinking about Naru."

Madoka snorted with laughter, and Mai mashed her face into the bedclothes.

"Later on, I did worry about you guys finding out about Gene," she said into the pillow. "But then I asked him. He said that you guys wouldn't be able to tell if he caused an astral projection. So it would be safe for the professor to study."

"Then it was really Gene that you went to see that first night?" Madoka asked, her tone more serious.

"Yes," Mai admitted. "And Naru totally figured it out, even though I tried to throw him off."

"Well, you're not exactly a criminal mastermind, Mai-chan."

"I usually leave criminal masterminding to Yasu."

"Good call."

Mai giggled, finally removing her face from the bedding. "Anyway, so Gene cleared that one up. Not that it mattered, really - Naru only got more suspicious after that night."

"Nice to finally know what was bothering him," Madoka mused. "Koujo and I had been wondering. He's been even touchier than usual."

Mai nodded. "Gene told me that Naru was onto us."

"Which brings me to another question, Mai-chan." Madoka speared Mai with a laser stare of her own. "Why did it have to be a secret, anyway?"

The teen psychic froze for a moment, and she stared down at her blanket. Well, since Naru already knew... "Gene knows that Naru wants him to cross over. He thought that if Naru knew that Gene was my spirit guide, he'd worry about the state of Gene's spirit."

Madoka's stomach dropped. "Well... _should_ he be worried?"

The nervous undertone in Madoka's voice drew Mai's eyes back up. "No," she said reassuringly. "He's okay." Mai stared straight into Madoka's eyes. "And I _promise _I'll tell you right away if he's not."

Madoka smiled at the fierceness in Mai's expression. 'If you're going to swear an oath, swear it to Noll," the master ghost hunter drawled.

Mai rolled her eyes. "I'm just saying I won't sit back and let Gene get stuck."

"Like Georgie," Madoka mused.

A tremor ran through Mai's body at the mention of the case. "Yes," Mai said seriously, looking down at her splinted hand. "Like Georgie."

"I told Lin to adjust the camera angles, just like you suggested," Madoka informed her.

"That's great, Madoka-san," Mai replied. "I think we'll get something." A wave of sleepiness overcame her, and Mai laid back down.

"Even if we don't, I'm still going with your exorcism idea," Madoka insisted. "I agree with you."

Mai nodded hazily. _Back to dreamland_. "I still want evidence to show Naru," she revealed. "You know how he is about hard data."

"Of course I do, Mai-chan. I taught him," Madoka replied smugly.

"Hmm, sometimes I forget that," Mai murmured, snuggling down into the covers. "You're so much... _peppier_ than he is. _Ne_, Madoka-san... couldn't you have taught Naru about happy employer-employee relationships?"

"Oh, I did," Madoka asserted, settling back into bed herself. "I'm not responsible for how Noll chose to _interpret_ my lessons."

-0O0-

AN: Okay, okay, I know - it's been two weeks. I have literally been staring at this for days, trying to figure out why it wasn't doing what it was supposed to do. I think it's finally ready. BTW, **lazzykane**, your adorable rhyming review made my day _and_ broke me out of my funk. So, thanks:) And thank you to everybody who reads/reviews this story, I am so thankful for each and every one of you!


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Manga would still be going.  
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**Chapter 24 – Emotional Excitation**

**-0O0-**

"Okay, Mai-chan," Yasuhara called, video camera in hand. "All set. Call Georgie out."

Mai's eyes were fixed on the upstairs landing. She couldn't _see_ anything... but the teen psychic could feel flashes of anger, fear, and excitability all around her. Georgie was definitely here – and definitely aware of their presence. As if to reinforce her assessment, an unnatural chill drifted down the stairs and blew Mai's hair away from her face.

But the landing wasn't the only point of interest. Mai eyed the scratches trailing down the stairs. There were a whole bunch of them – as if someone's hands had dragged along the wall _many_ times. She assumed that the living Georgie had only tumbled down the stairs once... which inferred that most of the marks had been made after his death.

As of this morning, this theory was backed by evidence. At Mai's suggestion, Lin had remotely re-positioned two of the cameras in the front hall. Instead of filming the front door and the base doorway, the cameras had been pointed at the scratch marks on the staircase and on the hallway floor.

And sure enough, new scratch marks appeared during the night. Starting at the stairs and ending at the far end of the hall, the footage captured fresh lines slowly grazing the walls and floor, the wood gouged out by invisible fingers.

Upon seeing the new marks, Naru thought to adjust the sound pick-up on the microphones. Above the frequency of the usual screams and hysterical giggles, a faint screeching sound of nails on varnished wood could be heard.

Mai had declared (tentative) victory. "So I think that Georgie's _stuck_," she'd proposed to the SPR team this morning. "Stuck in a loop."

_Stuck in the same place he'd wanted to escape all his life._ Mai's thought circled back to the present, and she prepared to address the spirit. "Georgie," she called softly, putting a foot on the stairs. "I know you're here. You've _been_ here, all this time... going around in circles."

The anger in the house buzzed hotter. Mai could feel it burning along the edges of her body... and memories of the last time she'd scaled the stairs accosted her like a subconscious warning. So Mai waited (as unthreateningly as possible) at the bottom step. "Going around in a horrible circle," she reiterated softly. "Repeating your own path to the grave, over and over again."

She thought about the scratches along the hallway floor. That hallway led out the back door and into the yard. Yasuhara postulated that the marks reproduced the path Georgie Reed's body had taken to a hidden grave in the garden. The rest of SPR had agreed. Now that they were in the house again, maybe Mai would be able to tell for sure... she closed her eyes, and stretched out with her senses.

A brief vision lit up the darkness behind Mai's eyelids... a lifeless hand dragging along a well-shined floor. So her psychic abilities agreed with this morning's consensus.

The team had also agreed that if Mai couldn't talk Georgie down using _jourei_, they'd dig in the garden for his bones. But Mai preferred the emotional approach, believing that Georgie's problem lay with his feelings and not the location of his body. So she bravely ventured up another stair and tried again. "It must be so painful to be trapped in that awful moment," she offered sympathetically.

Naru stood three steps back from the stairs (as the _boss_ required), and regarded Mai's steady voice and face with interest. If she recognized the similarity between Georgie's cycle of deadly repetition and her own troubles with repeat dreaming, she wasn't letting it show. Naru still wasn't quite sure how to feel about Mai's improved professionalism; a strange mix of pride and loneliness currently welled within him.

Meanwhile, Mai's gaze swept every corner of the staircase. Still no discernible manifestation, though Georgie's emotions were simmering like a pot about to boil. Maybe something extra was needed to spur him into going visible.

The teen psychic thought hard, replaying the main vision in her head. Mr. Reed's threat about locking Georgie up for good had caused a manic freak-out... but bringing up that episode might end badly. She needed to surprise Georgie into _appearing_ without _attacking_. So no re-enactments of the past, and no trucking up the stairs into the danger zone. She needed to do something non-aggressive that could still affect Georgie's emotions...

And then Mai's memory clicked. What about the time Madoka grabbed Lin's hand and pulled him into base? Mai had felt an immediate and _powerful_ surge of emotion – a sharp, hot stab of fear that had ripped through the house.

_Georgie had wanted his parents to love him like they loved each other_, she remembered. Given that he'd _wanted_ love, Mai wasn't sure why an affectionate display had provoked the level of _fear_ she'd sensed... but perhaps re-enacting something loving would produce a non-aggressive Georgie. "Madoka-san!" Mai whispered loudly. She kept her eyes on the stairs as she waited for an answer, feeling it would be a bad idea to turn her back.

"Yes, Mai-chan?"

"Please take Lin-san's hand and come to the bottom of the stairs," Mai requested. "But don't stand directly behind me. Stand so that someone on the landing could see you."

The team tossed puzzled glances at one another, but Madoka did as asked. She reached out for her boyfriend's hand and they walked together to the foot of the stairs. Mai felt an energy spike... but still no ghost. Perhaps Georgie required a more overt display of affection.

"Lin-san," Mai hissed, fully aware that this demand was going to make her _onmyouji_ instructor uncomfortable. "Put your arms around Madoka-san."

"What?" Lin asked flatly. He did _not_ do public displays of affection.

"It's just for a bit, Lin-san," Mai whispered pleadingly.

"What's the matter, Koujo? You have a problem with holding me?" Madoka asked, affecting a sad tone. She looked up at her boyfriend's embarrassed face and willed her eyes to sparkle imploringly.

"No," Lin replied starchily. "I just..." He took one look at Madoka's beseeching expression, and sighed in defeat. Intensely conscious of the people surrounding him (and of Yasuhara sniggering silently into his elbow), Lin slowly wrapped his arms around his girlfriend. Madoka smiled and relaxed comfortably into his chest.

_BANG_.

A huge wall of feelings slammed into Mai. Fear, anger, loathing, longing and regret all vied for dominance. The different energies blinked in and out at warp speed.

Then Mai's attention snapped back into the physical as floorboards quivered under her feet, and specks of paint peeled off the walls beside her. She looked up – and Georgie's spirit was at the top of the stairs.

"Thermographic camera's got something," Yasuhara reported from the back of the room.

The ghost of Georgie Reed didn't seem to hear him. He had zeroed in on Madoka and Lin (who bravely held their embrace at the foot of the stairs). "Why can't you just LOVE ME?" he asked them, voice trembling with fury.

"They can't hear you," Mai told him. Georgie's eyes slid sideways to meet hers, and Mai felt a jolt of fear at the crazed expression filling them. She fought to remember what she needed to say. "They can't hear you," she repeated. "And they're _not_ your parents."

Georgie hissed and came down a step.

"Your parents are gone," she informed him quietly. "They died a long time ago."

"No!" Georgie denied hotly. "They keep coming _back!_ LOTS of people keep coming..."

"Not your parents," Mai insisted. "_Other_ people keep coming. This house doesn't belong to your parents anymore."

Although the spirit seemed to accept this information, it did not not have the calming effect Mai was hoping for. Georgie's eyes blazed hotter. "Then they _left_, after what they _did?_" His anger pulsed around Mai. "_They did THIS to me!_" The scratches along the stairs lit up brightly, and screams and crying rang through the house. Mai winced and dropped down a step.

Naru sucked in a breath and strode forward, but Madoka thrust out a staying hand. "She'll let us know if she needs us," the lead investigator said very loudly. She was both telling Naru to trust his former assistant, and reminding Mai to ask for help if she needed it.

On the stairs, Mai nodded slightly in response before addressing the spirit again. "I _know_, Georgie. They locked you up..."

"_And threw me away!_" he roared. "Down the stairs! Down the stairs when I tried to give my mother a _hug!_ Like _they_ were always hugging! My father wouldn't _SHARE_ her!" The steps underneath Georgie's feet cracked.

Mai winced as debris flew by. _He'd only been trying to hug Mrs. Reed?_ Maybe it looked like he was going to attack her – after all, Georgie flipped between emotions so easily, and the Reeds had had no idea how to deal with him.

Then Mai's breath hitched – Georgie said he'd hugged his mother 'like _they_ were always hugging.' He meant his parents, obviously. Did that mean that Georgie had tried to embrace his mother like a _lover?_ Her instincts rang at the thought, and Mai grimaced. But then a wave of sympathy swept through her – Georgie probably didn't really _understand_ what he was doing. He was just using the only model for grown-up physical affection he knew. But Mr. Reed hadn't studied psychology, and he'd already shown an inability to deal with Georgie... "They didn't understand you," Mai said softly. "I'm sorry."

"_ARE THEY SORRY_?" Georgie shrieked breathily. The marks on the wall blazed brighter. "_He_ put me back there," he cried, pointing back towards the garden. "And _she_ let him! Held _him_ while _I_ was lying there! Are _THEY_ sorry?"

"Yes," Mai replied with conviction. Regardless of how he felt about his 'crazy' son, there was no way that Mr. Reed didn't feel sad about what he'd done. Even if his sorrow was only for the terrible pain his actions must have caused his wife. "They left Brighton right after," Mai revealed. "They didn't sell this house. I don't think they even tried."

Naru had pointed out the first sale date of the house; it was recorded in one of the papers Yasuhara had brought from the library. It hadn't been sold until after both elder Reeds died. And that wasn't the only indicator of lasting guilt and psychological trauma – although both parents had lived long after Georgie's death, Mrs. Reed holed herself up in Bath and lived the rest of her life as a recluse.

And according to a gossip column (the fruit of Yasu's combing through local papers), Mr. Reed stayed in Bath with his wife most of the time, only coming back to London for business needs. He avoided Brighton entirely. The gossip article hazarded that the Reeds were too distraught by their son's 'disappearance' to ever return. The house was apparently shut up until Mr. Reed's death, and his beneficiaries sold it almost immediately.

Naru believed the Reeds' decision not to sell the house was a cover-up. Their murdered son was buried there, so they had to keep it in the family. And that was certainly possible. But telling Georgie about that wouldn't do Mai any good. So she went with the guilt option.

"Gone..." Georgie hissed angrily. There was a cracking noise somewhere upstairs. "They left – and _LEFT ME HERE?_"

A cold wind blew the members of SPR back slightly, and a huge crack appeared in the railing of the staircase. Lin put his fingers to his lips, ready to summon his _shiki_.

"Yeah, they left," Mai agreed. Then she fixed Georgie with a firm stare. "But _you're_ leaving _yourself_ here."

The wind, the screams, and the cracking all stopped. "What?" Georgie's raspy question seemed to come from everywhere.

"You don't _have_ to_ be_ here anymore," Mai told him. "Your parents are gone; you don't have to stay in your room, Georgie. And you can't punish your parents if they're not here. _And they're gone_. There's no reason to stay."

The raging anger dropped off as Georgie considered this. His psychotic eyes were riveted to Mai, searching her face for a lie.

Mai felt the shift in the air, and pressed her advantage. "Didn't you always want to get out of the house, Georgie?" she reminded him. "You said you did – you even tried it. You always wanted to leave."

The anger bubbled back to life. "But they kept me here!"

_Uh-oh_, Mai thought. Her senses were scored by hot streaks of rage, and the stairs creaked beneath her feet. She had to wrench control of the situation back from the furious ghost, and she had to do it fast. "But they aren't now, Georgie. Your parents aren't here anymore. There's _no one_ keeping you here. You can _leave!_"

Georgie's crazy eyes closed, and Mai felt another welcome downswing in emotional bombardment. "Leave," the spirit repeated disbelievingly.

A new emotion swept through Mai - it felt like hope. Exactly what she was going for. "Yes, leave. You're free to move on," Mai encouraged gently, summoning her Masako-voice. "Where no one can hurt you anymore."

The scratches stopped glowing. The waves of emotions calmed.

Mai gestured toward the front of the house. All of the windows and doors had been thrown open before they'd started (at Lin's inspired suggestion). "You're not trapped anymore," she reiterated.

Sensing that Georgie needed an extra push – he'd never really made his own decisions, after all – Mai smiled her gentlest smile and stepped back, giving Georgie a clear path to the open door. "You can _go_," she informed him, emotions choking her voice.

And she felt the pain lift away as Georgie closed his eyes and vanished.

With a sigh of relief, Mai collapsed against the railing of the staircase. She felt a hand at her back - and found Lin steadying her from behind. His eyes were a bit anxious. Mai grinned. "I'm okay," she assured him. "Just glad it's over."

Madoka smiled at the exchange. Her boyfriend looked rather recalcitrant as he supported Mai, and Madoka realized this was Koujo's way of apologizing for picking at the poor girl after her death dream.

"I hate to be the downer here," came Yasuhara's voice. "But maybe we should still dig up Georgie's body. Shouldn't we send him to rest properly in a cemetery or something?"

They all looked at one another.

"No," Naru finally said. "Firstly, if we found a body, we would have to report it to the police. At the very least, we'd have to explain to a crematorium where the body came from. Moreover, should the truth of what happened to Georgie become public knowledge, it would undoubtedly turn into an unpleasant media affair. This would greatly affect the lives of Reed's descendants, none of whom had anything to do with Georgie's death."

Mai smiled as she realized what Naru was getting at. "They shouldn't be punished for Mr. Reed's actions," she summed up.

"Yes, that's what I just said, Mai," Naru replied snarkily.

His former assistant clenched her fist, and wondered (for the umpteenth time) why Naru felt the need to hide his humanity beneath a bad attitude.

"And lastly, moving the body of a recently departed spirit is never a good idea." Naru threw Yasuhara a 'you-should-know-better' look.

"You think he'd come back?" Yasu asked doubtfully.

"I would rather not find out," Naru replied shortly.

"We should do _something_, though," Mai noted, looking down the hall toward the back door. "Something to honor Georgie. Yasu's right - he deserves better than an unmarked grave."

Naru observed Mai for a long moment. "We could bless the grave and mark it with something unobtrusive," he suggested, his tone gentler than normal. Then he snapped out of it and cleared his throat. "We _should_ bless the grave," he continued in a terser manner. "To finish the job, and ensure that George Reed is at peace."

Madoka grinned at Noll's backtracking. He clearly wanted to please Mai – but _still_ couldn't deal.

"That's a great idea, Naru!" Mai nodded eagerly. "We should probably go Christian for the blessing... oh! I can call John-kun!"

This time, Madoka had to smother a snort. Noll looked rather affronted that Mai would turn to someone else for advice.

"Mai. Madoka, Lin, and I all know how to say a prayer," Naru informed her through his teeth.

"Oh, right." As Mai slid her phone back into her pocket, an idea occurred to her. "Hey, I know! I have a rosary that John-kun gave me before we left Japan! We can bury that in a box over the body!"

"Mai-chan, I think John-kun wanted you to keep that for yourself," Yasuhara noted. "You know, for when your injury-prone butt gets into trouble." He eyed her splinted finger. "Hmm... you should probably carry the rosary _with_ you on cases. It's obviously not doing much good in your suitcase."

"Hmm," Mai repeated noncommittally. She closed her eyes, relishing in the new sense of peace that pervaded the house. "John-kun _might_ have said something like that."

-0O0-

Madoka rapped on the bathroom door. "Mai-chan, you ready?" she called.

"Almost!" was the shrill answer. "Just trying to get my hair out of the neck of this thing!"

_Neck?_ Madoka wondered. _Swimming costumes don't have necks_. Perhaps Mai was talking about the neck of a shirt she'd thrown over her costume. "Okay, Mai-chan, but hurry up! We're burning daylight!"

A giggle came from the bathroom. "Roger that, Madoka-san! At least the splint's off now, or this would probably take another twenty minutes!"

Smiling herself, Madoka turned back to face their hotel room. Everything was packed, the suitcases were ready to go, and Lin had just confirmed that the secondary base equipment was all loaded into the van. "All set," she murmured to herself.

"Me, too!" Mai skipped past Madoka into the room. "Ready to go when you are!" Hearing no reply, Mai swiveled around – to see Madoka gazing confusedly in her direction.

"Er... Mai-chan?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are you in a scuba suit?"

"Huh?"

"You're in a _scuba suit_."

"Just the top of one! A lot of surfers wear tops like this in the water. I have a regular bikini bottom, though. See?" Mai wiggled her hips a bit for emphasis.

"But... you're not a surfer." Madoka cocked her head to the side, as if a new angle could somehow explain the pink-and-purple wetsuit.

"I can body-surf!" Mai replied gaily. "Bou-san showed me how to do it!" That had been a great day...

"Right, but..." Then it clicked. "Mai-chan, are you wearing that to hide your scars?"

"Well, yeah," Mai answered, as if it were obvious.

"But you don't have to –"

"Yes, I do," Mai interrupted, voice firm. "Madoka-san, I don't even let my _family _see the scars. Why would I want total strangers gawping at them all day?"

Madoka pursed her lips. "That's a good point," she admitted.

Mai rolled her eyes. "Listen, someday I'll take off the gloves - and I'm sure you'll understand my hesitation. So could we leave it alone, please?" she begged.

The master ghost hunter sighed, knowing she should give in. Mai had been through a lot in the last few days. Besides, she said she'd unveil the scars 'someday.' That was progress enough, for now. "Alright, Mai-chan," Madoka relented. "It _is_ your body. Now, let's get going - before Noll comes up with some stupid excuse to head back early."

-0O0-

Outside the hotel, Naru leaned against the far side of the van and surreptitiously dialed Martin's office number. If he played up the results of Mai's EEG scans, his adopted father would want to see them immediately. He'd insist they return to SPR straightaway... and Naru would not have to deal with the beach.

The line picked up. "Martin Davis speaking."

"Father?" Naru asked, trying to sound normal-yet-excited. "We've finished the case, and we're almost packed and ready to go."

"Yes, Noll, I know," Martin replied. "Madoka faxed me the preliminary findings report an hour ago."

Damn it. If his father had already conversed with Madoka, the plan wouldn't fly. Martin would expect Madoka to mention any highly interesting EEG findings. However... since Madoka had _faxed _the report, it was possible they hadn't yet spoken. "Did she also fax you the results of Mai's EEG scans?"

"No..." Martin said curiously.

His son _almost _smiled. "They're very interesting," Naru said leadingly.

Silence.

Naru frowned – he had expected excitement. "You're going to want to see them for _yourself_, Father." He flipped a couple of pages, making it sound as though he were reading over the scans as they spoke.

"Hm," Martin noted succinctly.

Naru stared at the cell phone in his hand as if it were an alien artifact. Was Martin ill, or something?

"Noll..." the head of SPR said slowly. "You wouldn't, by any chance... be trying to get out of the beach outing this afternoon?"

Damn it.

"Madoka figured you might pull something like this," his father continued, an obvious smile in his voice. "It's just the beach, Noll."

Naru had to give Madoka more credit. She _was _much sneakier than him, but Naru hadn't expected her to predict his behavior so handily. "It's a waste of time."

"Hm... your mother doesn't think so," Martin sighed. "She called an hour ago, to ensure I wouldn't let you wiggle out of it."

Naru _really _had to give Madoka more credit.

"But I _definitely_ want to see those scans the _instant _you return to London." The excitement that Naru had been looking for finally made an appearance in his father's voice.

_Too little, too late_. "Of course, Father," Naru hissed. "Presuming I don't lose them in the _sand_." He planned on reading while his idiot companions splashed around in the Channel.

"That's why we do copies, Noll," Martin remarked unsympathetically.

Naru snapped the phone shut without responding, aggravated with his father's betrayal. He glared into the distance until the roll of wheels assaulted his ears; Mai and Madoka were pulling their suitcases toward the van.

As he was also aggravated with his former teacher, Naru elected not to assist as they heaved their possessions into the van. He did notice that Mai lifted her suitcase with two bare hands. _She's not wearing her gloves?_ _And her splint is gone_. "Your finger is healed, I suppose?" Naru asked casually_. _

"Yes!" Mai answered brightly, waving newly freed fingers. "We called the hospital, and the doctor said I could take off the splint. Which is great – you can't imagine how hard it's been to get some of my clothes on!"

"I'm sure_ I_ can!" Yasuhara called mischievously from the van's backseat. "Quite clearly!"

Madoka snorted, while Mai and Naru leveled twin glares at the grinning researcher.

"Ew, Yasu," Mai groaned. "I'm suddenly relieved not to be wearing a full bikini." She adjusted the neck of her diving top. "Who knows how _that_ would factor into your imaginings?"

"If you'd like an explanation of my visualization process, Mai-chan, I would be _more_ than willing to oblige," Yasuhara replied smarmily.

Madoka glanced furtively at Noll, figuring he'd be about ready to shut Yasu down – only to find him staring fixedly at Mai's unusual swimming attire.

"Mai..." Naru said slowly, "You're wearing a scuba shirt."

She giggled. "Nothing gets by you, Naru!"

His eyes narrowed. "I'm not sure they offer diving expeditions in Brighton."

"It's not for diving, Naru," Mai informed him, rolling her eyes. She brushed her fingers down the skintight sleeves...

...Where her gloves would usually be. "It's for hiding the scars," Naru surmised. "Mai, don't you think..."

"Naru, don't start." Mai's eyes turned fierce. Hadn't she just had this argument? "The scars are extensive and _very _noticeable. I want to go swimming today without displaying my... altered appearance to every curious beach-goer. I don't want to be stared at. Is that so wrong?"

Naru's eyes changed as they stared into Mai's. Before she could isolate the new emotion present, he blinked and shifted his focus to something behind her. Mai looked over her shoulder to see Lin approaching, hotel bill in hand. They were ready to go.

Figuring the moment was over, Mai grabbed for the door of the van.

"No," Naru's voice said quietly.

Attention arrested, Mai looked back – the strange expression was back in Naru's eyes.

Naru groaned internally at Mai's wide-eyed, uncomprehending look. He was going to have to explain himself. "No, it's not wrong to discourage unwanted attention. People staring can be... irritating." He certainly knew how it felt.

Predictably, Mai's mouth dropped open. Probably shock at his unusual expression of empathy; Naru was rather uncomfortable about it himself. He stepped past Mai with alacrity, and climbed into the front passenger seat.

Madoka and Lin walked over to find a slack-jawed, immobile Mai blocking their way. "Ah, everything okay, Mai-chan?" Madoka asked concernedly. _Had Noll said something ridiculous again?_

The teen psychic unfroze. "Not a robot," she muttered dazedly.

Madoka's eyebrows flew skyward.

-0O0-

The beach was an extremely crowded place. Mai dodged several teens and a couple of small sandcastles before Madoka finally located a 'good place' to set up their blanket and supplies. This 'good place' allotted them roughly seven feet of room, which Madoka seemed to regard as positively spacious.

Yasuhara promptly hooked the lunch bag to a beach chair, collapsed onto the blanket, and went nuts with the tanning oil. He somehow managed all of this without bumping any of their many neighbors. Mai doubted she'd be so lucky. She edged her way around a blanket containing several prone women, carefully placed the towel bag on the edge of the blanket, slowly lowered herself to the coarse sand... and accidentally landed on someone's foot.

After apologizing profusely to her victim, Mai elbowed a smirking Naru. "What? It's _really_ crowded!"

"It's hot," he replied dispassionately, pulling a thick folder out of the lunch-bag.

"And by that you mean...?"

Naru ignored her in favor of flipping his folder open.

Mai waited.

Naru calmly scrutinized the first page.

Mai darted forward to knock the file from his hands.

Madoka grabbed Mai by her suit collar and hauled her back down to the blanket. She did not fancy chasing escaped papers all over Brighton. "What I'm_ sure _Noll meant to_ explain_," she hissed, throwing a hard glare at her thoroughly unconcerned former student, "Is that it's rare to have such a hot, sunny day in September... much less a _few _hot, sunny days strung together like this. People get excited and flock to the beaches – and Brighton is close enough to London that most of the city can feasibly migrate here for the weekend."

It did indeed look like most of London was on this beach. "I see," Mai nodded. "Japan's beaches are like that, too. I just thought that the beach here would be... emptier, or something. They were emptier in travel pictures."

Yasuhara snorted.

Naru looked up from the paperwork. "They normally _are _emptier in September. This," he gestured to the teeming masses around them, "Is because it's a hot Sunday, like I said." He flipped a page. "Pity we won't be here tomorrow. It's supposed to rain in the morning – this place will be a ghost town."

"Well, that would give us an excuse to come back!" the teen psychic enthused.

Naru raised a questioning eyebrow.

"You know, because we'd need to exorcise the ghost town!" Mai laughed. "And then we could have the beach to ourselves!"

Naru rolled his eyes, but Mai saw the edges of a smile on his lips. Before she even had a chance to blush, Mai heard a chorus of dreamy-sounding sighs behind her. She whipped around, ready to tell off Yasu and Madoka for mocking her – and realized that they were not the culprits.

Most of the girls on the next blanket were staring gooily at Naru, including the one she'd accidentally injured. She broke ranks to spare Mai a sniffy look before resuming her blatant ogling.

Mai's cheek twitched, not exactly sure how to feel about this development. On one hand, she completely understood their fascination; Naru was very good-looking. Especially his eyes. And his face. And his fingers. And his voice. And – _Shut up_, Mai firmly told off her inner monologue.

But seriously, did those girls think Naru was a piece of meat, or something? Mai furtively studied him under her eyelashes. He didn't look up from his work once, even though he _had_ to have heard all those lovelorn sighs. Plus, now the girls were _whispering _about Naru's hotness. Really loudly.

Naru flipped another page.

Mai twitched again as two of the Oglers started arguing over who should ask him out first. Apparently, they thought he'd like a swim, since 'he _had_ to be _baking_' in his black (albeit short-sleeved) shirt and completely beach-inappropriate black slacks. (And he and Madoka had taken exception to _her_ wardrobe choice?) The Oglers figured he _had _to have swimming attire on under there. Mai snorted. She doubted Naru even owned swimming attire.

An outwardly unbothered Naru slipped a pen from his pants pocket, and made notations on the sheet he was studying.

The staring girls reckoned he must be an awesomely dedicated college student. _Ha, a student?_ Naru had a doctorate... then Mai discovered that the blanket full of girls on the _other_ side of Naru had joined the ogling-whisper session. Twitch.

She also saw that Oglers' regard had spread to Yasuhara and Lin. Yasu was lying on the blanket with his eyes closed, which explained why he wasn't already flirting (as per usual). Lin, on the other hand, was well aware of the many eyes perusing his person. He glared straight ahead, studying the water with a tenacity he usually reserved for ghost hunting.

"Let's go for a walk, Koujo," Madoka said loudly, pulling Lin up by the hand. Mai couldn't help but giggle as the irked woman dragged her boyfriend down to the water. Mai hoped Lin didn't get wet; he was wearing slacks, too.

Fortuitously, the commotion woke Yasuhara from his doze... and he made up for lost time by engaging as many admirers as possible. Mai noticed that Yasuhara's usually-almost-undetectable Japanese accent became suddenly thicker as he introduced himself to all of the ladies on his side of the blanket.

He could only take in so much territory, though... the four Oglers on Naru's side of the blanket continued to stare hungrily in his direction. And although Naru continued to ignore them, Mai could tell he was annoyed... so she had to act fast. He already hated the beach; Mai feared this new aggravation might be the straw that broke the camel's back. She did _not_ want to be forced home early because some of some raptly-staring girls.

And Mai's own jealous twitchiness had absolutely_ nothing_ to do with her decision to take action. Nothing at all.

Luckily, she had an emergency Naru-diversion already lined up. Mai reached into the lunch-bag and pulled out a secret thermos of tea. She'd made it as a pacifier for when Naru's irritation with the beach reached a critical level. Mai was working on unscrewing the top when a shadow darkened her surroundings.

"Excuse me, Miss?"

The transfer student looked up to see a half-naked young man standing before her. He was tan, nice-looking, carrying a ball of some kind... and apparently talking to her. "Yes?" she replied politely.

"Would you care for a swim?"

Mai's eyes went wide. Was he... _asking her out?_

The boy misunderstood the source of her confusion. "Oh, very sorry, Miss, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is John, and I thought it seemed like you could use a dip."

Recovering slightly, Mai smiled at the name he gave. "One of my best friends is called John," she said brightly.

"Off to a good start, then," John replied warmly.

Yasuhara choked noisily beside her, and Mai looked over in concern. He appeared to be trying not to laugh... but his eyes weren't on Mai. She followed the line of Yasu's gaze to Naru – who had stopped reading his file in favor of glaring at Mai's suitor.

Who backed away a step, eyes surprised. "Oh, sorry, mate," John said contritely. "I didn't realize." He offered Mai and Naru an apologetic smile before running off.

_Didn't realize what_? Mai wondered. _That Naru is bothered by practically any sort of disturbance?_ Before she could ask, Naru's file appeared under her nose.

"Mai, would you take a look at this?" he asked her in a strangely dead voice.

Beside them, Yasuhara tried very hard not to fall over in hysterics... though he did allow himself a face-palm at his best friend's obliviousness. Naru had actually gotten _proprietary _over Mai-chan – and she had absolutely no idea! Yasu wondered what would have happened had John not backed off... it probably would have been awesome. Yasuhara shook his head, rather disappointed that the guy had wimped out.

He noticed that some of Naru's suitors were not so easily dissuaded. Though most of them had come to the same (semi-erroneous) conclusion as the run-off John, one of the girls still looked irrationally hopeful.

A playful tug on his arm recalled Yasuhara's attention to his own interested parties. _Best to let the situation fester on its own_, he thought with an inward grin. Yasu returned to his chat-up session with an even bigger smile than he'd started out with.

Meanwhile, Mai was distracted from the file by the agitated waves rolling off her former boss. "You okay, Naru?" Mai asked solicitously.

"I'm fine," he said tightly. _One of the many annoyances of the beach – interruption by a parade of random idiots_. "I need you to recount your last dream for me." He rapped the file with his pen.

Mai sighed, and resumed squinting at the page held out to her. The sun was so bright that she could only make out some jagged lines.

"Where are your sunglasses?" Naru asked reproachfully.

"I, um, packed them in the suitcase by accident," Mai admitted.

"That was stupid."

"Yeah, well, I was still all shaky from the exorcism," she defended, snatching the file from Naru's hands to get a closer look. "I wasn't thinking straight."

She was trying to decipher the heading when a pair of sunglasses landed on top of the page.

"Madoka carries extras of everything," Naru noted casually. "She reckons things tend to disappear on ghost hunts."

Mai slid the glasses on with a shaky hand. "Th-thanks." She was powerless against the blush creeping up her face. She was equally powerless against the sudden wash of anger crashing around her... Mai looked up to see all of the Oglers glaring holes into her. _What was their problem?_

Then her thought processes shut down as Naru edged slightly closer, his arm nudging hers when he pointed to a slowly rising line on the paper Mai was holding. She could feel his body heat and smell his shampoo. She loved that smell.

The wave of anger burned through her daze... and Mai finally twigged that the Oglers must be thinking that she and Naru were _together_. Mai's blush went from hot pink to fire-engine red in a matter of seconds.

Naru's smirk radiated smugness – his mission was complete. Not only would the irritating girls around them abandon their ill-conceived plans to bother him, but a flustered Mai usually made for long-term entertainment. Naru elected to ignore his own disconcertment at the unusual amount of physical contact. "So, what are your thoughts concerning these results?"

Still rather distracted, Mai eventually noticed that Naru was looking at her expectantly. _Had he said something?_ "What was that, Naru?" Mai asked, voice quavering.

His smirk became wider. "I hypothesize that the gradual increase in brain waves here –" He pointed to the gently sloping line. "Represents a direct relationship to your 're-syncing' with your body after an astral projection."

Yasuhara hoped that Madoka was secretly watching this. He wasn't sure he'd be able to do this moment justice with mere descriptions.

"What are you... oh, these are the EEG scans?" Mai's comprehension overcame her embarrassment, and she pored over the scan results with eager eyes.

"Yes, Mai." Naru's voice was amused.

"Oh, shut it, Narcissist." Mai hissed. "How was I supposed to know that?"

Her former boss raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you a Cambridge student now?" he drawled. "Martin's very interested in EEG scanning at the moment. You're definitely going to be studying them once term starts."

"Okaaaay, but term _hasn't_ started," Mai pointed out. "So how am I supposed to be able to recognize them?"

"I'm positive that Martin included an introduction to psychic affiliations with EEG in your reading list."

"Then I guess I haven't gotten to it yet," Mai observed icily.

"No time like the present," Naru replied. Excellent, an impromptu lesson should keep those annoying girls at bay for the duration of this useless beach outing.

"No way, Noll," an unfortunately familiar voice denied. Madoka stood at the edge of the blanket, hands on swimming costume-clad hips. "We did not come to the beach to study EEG scans. We came to go _swimming_. So unless you're planning on following us into the water in your skivvies..."

There was a sudden uptick in the Oglers' swooning. Mai couldn't blame them. Her blush had returned full-force from the embarrassing images rolling across her mind's eye.

"Don't be ridiculous," Naru snapped.

"Then stop hogging Mai-chan!"

"Are you serious?" _Hogging_ her?

"As your face," Madoka replied saucily. Without further ado, she scooped Mai off the blanket and ushered her towards the water. "Yasu? You coming?" the master ghost hunter yelled back. "Bring your beach shoes, it's rocky in the water!"

The bespectacled teen didn't miss a beat. "Well, ladies, it appears that my companions have requested my presence in the surf. Care to join us?"

At least five girls followed Yasuhara to the water, giggling all the way. Naru saw his own slightly disgusted look mirrored in the face of a newly returned Lin.

"It's almost impressive," the _onmyouji_ noted unwillingly. At least it was quieter now...

"Impressive? You've been spending too much time with Madoka," Naru replied cuttingly. His eyes left Yasuhara and his veritable bevy of co-eds in favor of watching Mai leap excitedly over a wave. Her unreasonable enthusiasm for such inane things continued to flummox Naru. Cyclic swells in the ocean should not cause shrieking excitement in a nineteen-year-old girl.

_Or in a full-fledged adult_, he amended, as Madoka whooped happily while sailing over the next wave.

"So your girlfriend just left you here?" a voice simpered from his left.

Her words shocked Naru enough that he responded. "I'm sorry?"

"I can't believe your girlfriend would just leave you here!" This particular candidate fiddled with the strap of her miniscule swimming costume, apparently thinking her physical assets would attract his attention. Naru barely refrained from rolling his eyes.

"I'm not interested in dating," he informed the girl flatly, cutting off her ostensible endgame.

"Then that girl's not your girlfriend?"

Naru really did roll his eyes this time. "I'm not interesting in dating," he repeated, voice firm. And people considered _him_ socially inept – how could this simpleton think that demeaning his companion would produce a positive response? "And 'that girl' is named Mai," he stated rather frigidly.

This time, his suitor got the message. She became immediately sulky and moved away from Naru... while easing the sting of rejection by throwing some darts of her own. "Well, it's a good thing _Mai_ isn't your girlfriend... seeing as she's all up close and personal with _that_ guy."

Against his better judgment, Naru looked up. Mai was currently trapped in the hold of a grinning Yasuhara. Mai pointed frantically at an exceptionally large incoming wave, got loose, and attempted an escape to the shallows... but Yasuhara grabbed her around the waist and carried the struggling girl back to their original spot.

Lin sighed as his former charge froze. _So much for peace and quiet._ Noll's eyes, barely visible under the dark glasses, narrowed to slits, and the tendons in his neck twitched as he surreptitiously followed Mai's unwilling progress into deeper water. Eventually, she wiggled enough that Yasuhara lost his grip - and dropped her into the surf like a sack of rice. Noll's whole body tensed up when Mai crashed (screaming) into the water. As if he were about to go in after her. Lin _almost_ smiled, and Noll shook his head at his own ridiculousness.

At exactly the same time, Lin and Naru realized that Mai hadn't come back up.

Both men stood up on the blanket and scanned the waves for Mai's brightly-colored wetsuit. Nothing. They _could_ see an anxious Yasuhara searching the immediate area. Naru promptly pulled his shirt over his head and went for the buckle on his belt...

And Mai burst out of the water behind Yasuhara and launched herself at his back. Unprepared, Yasuhara lost his balance and fell, belly-flopping ungracefully into the waves. Mai managed to stay standing, and pumped her fist in victory.

Lin unconsciously relaxed – she had just been going for revenge.

Naru threw himself back onto the blanket, thoroughly annoyed at his misunderstanding of the situation. He retrieved his shirt, and glared daggers at the idiots in the water. At least Mai hadn't seen him panic.

But _of course_ Madoka had. And once she was done laughing, _of course_ she had to tell Mai... grinning and pointing the entire time.

Oliver Davis dragged his shirt back on, pulled the EEG scans into his lap, and attempted to sooth his wounded pride with some active reading and plans of swift revenge. He _hated_ the beach.

Lin watched as Noll highlighted scan data and scribbled notes with a frightening intensity. His pen almost scratched right through the thin paper.

It was going to be a long day.

-0O0-

AN: So, the bad news - I haven't updated for a couple of weeks because I've been having some annoying health issues. I'm having surgery in a couple of weeks to take care of the health issues. The good news - Now that this case is over, we'll be back to mostly pre-written material, so I won't be starting from scratch every chapter. This should make for faster updates:)


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. There would be ghost hunter babies aplenty.  
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**Chapter 25 – Social Discords**

-0O0-

"I must say, Taniyama, these scans _are_ impressive," Martin enthused. "Especially the portions illustrating the 'return' from your astral projection." He spread the EEG scans across his desk in chronological order to establish a more complete picture.

"Had you backed _me_ instead of Madoka, you would have seen the results sooner," Naru muttered.

"True, Noll," his adopted father admitted. "But your mother is absolutely _delighted_ that you managed four whole hours at a public beach." Martin grinned. "And when your mother is delighted, we get bakery cake for dessert."

"So a net benefit, then," Madoka summed up with a smile.

Naru scoffed. "Father, I will not accept _cake_ as recompense for this waste of a day."

"Oh, come on, Naru," Mai encouraged. "The _whole_ day wasn't a waste, even by your standards. I exorcised a ghost today. _And_ we closed a case!"

"Which reminds me, Taniyama – excellent work!" Martin congratulated. "Madoka tells me that you almost single-handedly conducted the exorcism, _and_ identified the ghost's main problem."

"Um, yes... but I also totally misread the case at first," Mai hedged, squirming.

"You didn't 'totally misread' anything, Mai-chan," Madoka noted wearily. "And if you say that one more time, I may smack you."

Mai gave Madoka a flat-eyed stare. "I said there were _two_ ghosts. There was only _one_."

"Yes, _one_ ghost... with _two_ almost entirely separate personalities," Madoka reminded her.

"Georgie Reed almost _was_ two ghosts," Naru said judiciously. "Which I believe to be the reason Mai had such a problem identifying him – he couldn't unify his two sides enough to manifest properly." He threw Mai a flat-eyed stare of his own. "Do not confuse misreading with lacking information."

"Then I shouldn't have called it so early," Mai argued.

"No, you shouldn't have," Naru agreed readily.

"So your lesson for this case, Mai-chan," Madoka interrupted loudly, "Is to avoid making premature verdicts."

"And to avoid venturing up obviously haunted staircases by yourself!" Yasuhara called from the outer office.

"Yeah, yeah," Mai groused, bending her newly re-gloved finger. Almost totally healed. She also reached her hands up toward the ceiling, feeling for discomfort in her ribs. They still hurt, but Mai could attribute some of that to being pounded by waves all afternoon.

Martin leafed through the case notes. "The next time you conduct an exorcism, Taniyama, I want you hooked up to the EEG. We might get something interesting out of it."

"We might," Mai granted. "I _did_ have a vision flash during the exorcism. Plus, my senses were going nuts with all the emotions Georgie was throwing around."

"You had a vision... flash?" Naru repeated curiously, both unaware of this occurrence and unsure of what Mai meant by 'flash.'

"Yeah," she answered. "I had a flash of Georgie's dead hand dragging along the hallway floor. I could _hear_ the dragging, too."

"Do you reckon the ghost supplied this vision?" Martin asked clinically. He settled back into his chair and pulled out a notebook.

Mai considered. "No," she said slowly. "At least not on purpose. I was thinking about our team's supposition - that Georgie had been dragged into the garden and buried there... and I think my powers responded to my need to know whether we were right. It happens that way sometimes."

"Instinctual ability at work again," Naru surmised. Another topic for his paper. "How exactly would you define a vision 'flash,' Mai?" She'd used that term before, when explaining the 'warning' lapses into the vision of Gene's death.

"Oh, that just means I had a brief vision – while still awake," Mai clarified.

Naru nodded, mentally outlining this new section of his paper. He'd have to interview Mai properly on the subject... perhaps as early as tomorrow. He wanted to complete the interactive research before Mai started at Cambridge. Given her admitted lack of multitasking ability, Naru figured that the stress of attending a prestigious university, living in a foreign country, working for SPR, training her powers, _and_ consulting on a paper might overwhelm her. So in the meantime, Naru wanted Mai to focus on the study.

A sudden image of Mai freaking out over an essay flashed across Naru's inner eye. She had already expressed worry over her ability to write in Cambridge-level English... but then again, Mai would have near-constant access to extra help in the form of Martin, Madoka, or himself. Naru felt an odd rush of pleasure at the thought of Mai requesting his help on an assignment.

As Yasuhara strolled into Martin's office, he noticed that Naru was wearing a smug smirk. Obviously, it was about time to bother him. "Hey, Big Boss, your amazingly clear and uniformly pallid skin is looking a little... _off_."

Naru favored the researcher with an unimpressed glare.

"Curious, are you?" Yasuhara grinned. "It seems that you've got a sunburn. Your nose and cheeks are quite a becoming shade of _pink_ right now."

Madoka giggled. Noll _was _looking decidedly less pale than was normal. She had elected not to mention it, as Noll obviously held her responsible for his beach-torture.

"There wasn't a sun cream strong enough to block the intense rays coming off of your smile, Yasuhara," Naru drawled derisively.

Mai snorted. "Good one, Naru!" She was rewarded with a withering look. "Right, well, I've got lotion in my beach bag – if your sunburn hurts."

"I'll be fine," Naru replied shortly.

"It's for the best, Mai-chan – you shouldn't deprive Luella of the rare chance to nurse her baby back to health!" Madoka joked. "Not to mention, she'll be positively overjoyed to see physical evidence of Oliver's time outdoors!" She smiled brilliantly.

"So overjoyed that we get fancy _cake_," Yasuhara chimed in, also smiling brilliantly.

_Someone really needs to do something about the two of them_, Naru noted. "Four hours of wasted time for cake," he reiterated through his teeth.

Sensing it was time to get going, Professor Davis stood quickly. "Look at the time! If we don't want to miss the dinner bell, we'd better get a move on." He ushered his temperamental employees out of the office – making sure to push Noll out first.

As they walked to the elevators, Martin drew alongside his son. "By the way, Oliver," he whispered. "It's chocolate-peppermint cake." He watched as Naru's face softened slightly at the mention of his favorite dessert.

"I suppose if Mai isn't too tired to make tea, it might not be an entirely unfortunate evening," Naru conceded.

Martin snapped the EEG scans triumphantly. "That's the spirit, Noll."

-0O0-

Mai gaped at the unprecedented visual assaulting her brain. Directly across the table sat Naru, calmly drinking his tea... over an empty cake plate. And not _mostly _empty, not empty save for a bunch of crumbs... empty like he'd licked the crumbs off the plate when she wasn't watching. Never in her memory had Naru ever finished dessert. Mai had always been under the impression that the accompanying tea was what kept him at the table.

Her future professor (and current boss) interrupted Mai's shocked ruminations. "So, back to the EEG scans..." Martin began excitedly.

"Martin, I'm sure they're highly interesting and worthy of _hours_ of heated discussion," Luella deadpanned. "But isn't that what the workday is for? _I_ would rather hear about the beach." She glanced at her son's unusually colorful complexion and smiled beatifically. "Noll, did you swim?"

An incredulous and slightly disgusted look was all the answer Luella received.

Mai suddenly wanted longer legs that could kick Naru under the table. Then again, the punishment for such an action would probably outweigh the initial rush of satisfaction...

While waiting for a verbal response, Luella noticed that her son's plate was empty. This was not unexpected – chocolate-peppermint cake was one of the only desserts Noll actually enjoyed...

When he'd first come to England, Luella noticed that he never touched his dessert - and so the newly-minted adopted mother sought to find a cake that Noll would eat. One night (following yet another failure), Luella collapsed into Martin's chair in the study and reached into the nearby bowl of peppermints... only to come up empty. A short search revealed a wastebasket full of plastic wrappers. But Martin hadn't been home all week - in those days, he attended the ghost hunts with SPR. The only other person who spent regular amounts of time in the study was... Noll. A grin had broken out over Luella's face, and the next morning, she called a nearby bakery and asked for a cake flavored with peppermint. And to her very great joy, Noll had eaten every last bit.

After that night, Luella ordered chocolate-peppermint cake for all of Noll's special occasions - his entrance into Cambridge, his first case solve with SPR, his paper publications, his degree announcements, etc. Luella also made sure to keep the study stocked with peppermints. The memories made Mrs. Davis' eyes mist over as she waved James over. "Another piece, darling?" she asked Oliver, not really waiting for an answer before signaling for second helpings to be doled out.

Naru raised an eyebrow at his rather emotional-looking adopted mother before tucking into his second slice of cake. A moment later, he noticed Mai's open-mouthed gawking. Naru confronted her stare with a look of fake curiosity, as if he had no idea what she could find so strange.

The effect was almost immediate – Mai's cheeks turned red and her eyes darted away. Naru hid a smirk behind his fork.

And Madoka decided to pick up the lost thread of conversation. "No, Noll didn't swim, Luella," she offered with a dangerous-looking glint in her eyes. "But he almost performed a daring rescue-at-sea!"

Lin sighed almost inaudibly. _Would Madoka never learn? _

"What?" Luella asked, shocked eyes darting between the grinning Madoka and the glaring Noll.

"Yes, Noll noticed that a poor young lady was underwater too long," Madoka began, painting the scene with hand gestures.

_What exactly did 'leave it alone' mean to his girlfriend, anyway?_ Lin wondered. Well, at least his own name was being left out of this tale of foolishness. After all, he'd thought Mai was drowning, too...

"And up he leapt – nobly ripping his shirt in twain – and prepared to vault into the surf to save the drowning girl..." Madoka continued, eyes far away in Fairyland.

"I wasn't drowning!" Mai denied. Not that watching Madoka torment Naru wasn't fun, but hadn't they pushed him far enough today? His aura was _roiling_ with tension.

Luella's eyebrows flew up. She'd assumed that Madoka was exaggerating; Noll would, of course, inform a life guard if he noticed a bather in trouble – but he was hardly the type to dash into the waves himself. But for Mai... well, that might be a different story. And Noll was noticeably _not_ denying it... Luella fixed her eyes on the very embarrassed Mai. "You weren't drowning?" she prompted.

"No!" Mai shook her head violently. "I used the waves as cover to sneak up on Yasu. He dunked me, so I was trying to get back at him."

"To be fair, I only dunked you because you were wiggling around so much," Yasuhara protested. "Besides, you were trying to get away – so really, I only helped you."

"I was 'trying to get away' from the _giant wave_ coming at us," Mai corrected archly. "I didn't want to end up smack in the middle of the crash zone!"

Yasuhara shrugged. "You wound up safely under water when the giant wave hit. And you dunked me back. And you managed to cause Lin _and_ Big Boss to panic unnecessarily. I call that a win."

Madoka winked at a wide-eyed Luella. "So do I!"

"It sounds like everyone had a good time," Martin said calmingly, trying to smooth everything over. That cake was almost gone, and he was only giving it another minute until Noll either started in or stormed away from the table.

Yasuhara knew it was time to quit, too, and immediately brought the conversation back around to neutral territory. "Soooo... Bou-san sent me a text, Mai-chan. He wants you to call him first thing in the morning Tokyo-time - so right around bedtime for you."

"Did he say why?" Mai asked curiously. TTMPI had made their first trip out to the supposedly haunted school today.

"Well, Bou-san_ says_ he has a case question, but I think he actually wants you to mediate his latest fight with Ayako. Apparently, one of the teary-eyed high school girls called Ayako a haughty old lady... and instead of defending her, Bou-san fell over laughing."

"Great," Mai groaned. "It's not like I was looking forward to _sleeping_, or anything."

"Aw, I'm sure it'll only take a few hours to calm Ayako down," Yasuhara teased.

"Uggggh," Mai closed her eyes in dismay. "Can't I just do it tomorrow? She'll still be mad tomorrow."

"Even if you don't call, Bou-san will probably just call you," Yasuhara pointed out. "At least we're off-duty tomorrow, so you can sleep in after."

"But I'm tired _now_," the teen psychic whined. "I can talk Ayako off the ledge when I get up. Besides, I was going to call Masako-chan when I woke up tomorrow, so I can get both calls done in one morning..."

"You figure Hara-san will give you a better rundown of TTMPI's case?" Madoka asked, laughing.

"Probably," Mai agreed. "But I wasn't going to ask her about that. The stuff I read this morning looked pretty easy to handle – I'm sure Bou-san just couldn't resist the teary-eyed girls. I noticed Masako-chan sounded twitchy about that dinner with her parents. I meant to call her about it last night, but I got all caught up in... um, the case." It wasn't technically a lie – Mai _had_ been thinking about the case... but her confrontation with Naru and The Nightmare were really what she'd been 'caught up in.'

But since they'd all agreed that Martin and Luella should not be burdened with Gene's situation unless absolutely necessary, Mai was not going there.

"'Twitchy' about her parents?" Luella-the-psychologist probed gently.

"Yeah. Masako-chan's parents are kinda... lacking in familial warmth," Mai replied. Luella raised an eyebrow, and Mai hurried to qualify her statement. "I mean, it's not like they don't love her," she stammered, "But she feels like they forget she's a teenage girl. Masako-chan's dad is a big deal in the industry, as I'm sure you guys know, and they get so caught up in Masako's career that... well, I probably shouldn't be telling her business to everyone." Mai blushed. "When she comes for a visit, don't let her know I said anything, okay?"

Luella rested a hand on Mai's gloved one. "Of course not, dear," she assured her.

"Like I said, Mai – you've got a big mouth," Naru noted lightly.

"What was that, Narcissist?"

Naru met Mai glare for glare. His slowly calming bad mood had returned full force at the possibility of Masako Hara coming for a visit. He still hadn't quite forgiven her for the stunt she'd pulled in Japan. Or for the _dates_.

"Speaking of other people's business," Yasuhara said loudly. "Mai-chan, you need to get the info on Masako-chan's _dates_." Out of the corner of his eye, Yasu saw Naru freeze. Genuinely surprised at the reaction, the researcher asked, "You okay over there, Big Boss? I thought you'd be rather _elated_ that Masako-chan moved on."

Down the table, Madoka tried very hard not to make eye contact with either of Noll's suddenly very interested parents, both of whom were angling for her attention. Luella's expression clearly asked, 'How did I not know about this?' and Martin's wondered, 'How did Noll deal with _that_ landmine?' If they'd just be patient, she'd tell them later... but she'd leave out the blackmail.

"I was merely wondering whether you'd read my mind, Yasuhara," Naru replied acerbically. "I was just recalling how annoying I found certain aspects of SPR Japan."

"Naru!"

"Noll!"

Naru raised a thoroughly unconcerned eyebrow at the scandalized faces of Mai and Luella. His mother's chastisement was expected, but... "If I remember correctly, Mai, you found Hara-san just as galling as I did."

His former assistant blushed. "Well... maybe. But we get along much better now!"

_Of course they do_, Naru thought. Now that they weren't fighting over him... or who Mai_ thought_ was him. Naru's stomach lurched unpleasantly, and he eyed the empty cake plate in front of him. He shouldn't have eaten that second piece.

Astonishingly, it was Lin who asked the inevitable question. "Hara-san is dating someone?"

Naru smirked at the relief in his former guardian's tone. After all, the difficulties associated with Masako's blackmail hadn't only affected Naru. Part of Lin's job was to act as a smoke screen between Oliver Davis and the press, and Masako's veiled threats had thrown a huge wrench in the works.

Not to mention, Naru was always extra crabby upon returning from a forced date... and that couldn't have been fun for Lin.

"Yes, she is," Yasuhara answered earnestly. "But she won't tell us anything about him! It's really frustrating."

"You mean she won't tell _you_ anything about him," Mai mocked.

"Mai-chaaan!" Yasu wailed. "You've known the identity of Masako-chan's secret boyfriend this whole time?"

Mai grinned impishly. "Uh-huh."

"You suck!" he groaned. "I can't believe you haven't said anything! Just think of all the_ taunting_ I've missed out on!"

"Which is exactly _why_ I didn't say anything," Mai replied severely. "Dating is difficult enough for a celebrity like Masako-chan. She didn't need you poking fun at her."

"Masako-chan is tougher than you think she is, Mai-chan," Yasuhara informed her. "And besides – _she _picks on _me_ all the time!"

"Well, that's true," Mai allowed. "But you usually _deserve_ it."

"Maybe," Yasu grinned. Then he just stared expectantly at Mai.

"I'm still not telling you," his (supposed) best friend said into her tea cup.

"Come on, Mai-chan!"

"No."

"Pleeeeease?"

"No."

"Maybe I'll tell Madoka-san about That Person," he threatened.

"You do what you gotta do," Mai replied evenly. "I am not telling you." She deliberately ignored the curious glances everyone was shooting around the table.

Stymied, Yasuhara decided to change tactics. "It must be someone I know," he guessed, "If you're this determined not to tell me."

Mai shrugged indifferently.

Ah, he was right! "Is it John-kun?" Yasu asked excitedly. "That would be salacious _and_ hilarious!"

Mai cut him a look. "John-kun is a _priest_," she reminded him.

"Right, that's where the salaciousness would come in."

His best friend rolled her eyes. "It's _not_ John-kun."

"Is it... someone from the show? Ooh! Is it that pervy stagehand?"

"Which pervy stagehand?" Mai asked. "The one who hits on Masako-chan, or the one who hits on me?"

Naru choked on his tea. Madoka reached over and thumped him on the back.

"The one who hits on Masako-chan, obviously. The one who hits on you wants _you_." Yasuhara grinned evilly as Big Boss glared out the window.

"Whatever," Mai waved a dismissive hand. "It isn't either of them."

"Hmmm... oh, I know!" Yasuhara's eyes glittered. "It was that guy you both kept staring at in the restaurant during our farewell dinner." He'd been wondering about that, as Mai was thoroughly devoted to the Narcissist staring lasers into the window glass.

Mai pursed her lips. "Maybe we were just staring at him because he was hot." He _was_ hot... and secretly dating Masako. Mai had actually met Shuuhei-san that night. Masako had dragged her off to the 'bathroom,' and sent Shuuhei-san a text requesting that he sneak to the restaurant's back balcony. Masako had then very formally introduced Mai as her close friend, blushing adorably the whole time. Shuuhei-san was very nice, and quietly (but noticeably) enamored with Masako. Mai bit back a grin at the memory.

Which Yasu pounced on immediately. "So it _is_ him. Did they exchange numbers at the restaurant? Is that where you guys disappeared to for half the second course? Hmm, how unexpectedly bold of Masako-chan." He waggled his eyebrows.

Mai tried to maintain a stony face, but the combined stares of Yasu, Naru, Madoka, and Luella did her in. "Ugh, fine! Yes, it's him," she capitulated. "And they were already dating when we saw him at the restaurant."

"So then what were you guys doing for all that time? Wait, did Masako's boyfriend have a hot friend for you to meet?" Yasuhara smilingly avoided Naru's glare of doom.

"No, you jerk! Masako-chan took me outside to meet her man!"

"Aw, shame."

"Shut it."

Yasuhara just winked, and gestured subtly to Naru.

Mai followed his gaze... and threw Yasu a confused look. Of course Naru looked pissed – he hated 'useless' social discussions. She shook her head. "I'll take care of Bou-san and Ayako tomorrow, and I'll call Masako-chan before bed. I figure I should warn her that you know about Shuuhei-san as soon as possible."

"It'll be too late," Yasuhara said with mock sadness. "I am going to text her as soon as we get home. Only reason I'm not doing it right now is because my phone's dead."

"Yasu..." Mai groused. "If you don't leave her alone, I'll..." She struggled to come up with something bad enough.

"You'll what?" Yasu sang.

Then it came to her. Mai gave her head researcher a nasty smirk (shockingly similar to the one Naru used on especially irritating clients). "You gave me the napkin with Beach Girl's phone number on it, remember? You didn't have any pockets."

Yasuhara's smile dropped off, and he eyed Mai warily. "Yes, I remember – and her name is Liz, by the way."

"Well, if you bug Masako-chan... I'll pretend to be you and text _interesting_ _things_ to Liz-the-Beach-Girl. Like _special numbers_, for example. Or I could tell her about that time you got really drunk, and thought a girl had -"

"You wouldn't," Yasu denied quickly. "You're too nice."

"Hmm, you might be right," Mai admitted – though her malice-infused voice suggested differently. "So I'll just give Beach Girl's contact info to Masako-chan, and let _her_ handle it." Mai's mean smile widened.

Yasuhara stared Mai down over his glasses. She batted her eyelashes and sipped her tea. A trick she'd learned from the aforementioned Masako. "Okay, I cave," he relented. "I really want to go out with Liz... and I have to respect your improved threat-style."

"I learn from the best," Mai replied gaily.

"Why, thank you," Yasuhara and Madoka said simultaneously.

"Father, hand me those scans, will you?" Naru asked darkly. "I can't take this nonsense anymore."

-0O0-

It turned out that Mai's first call of the night would not be with Masako Hara. As she dozed in her favorite cozy chair in the Davis' sitting room, a bouncy J-Pop tune broke the companionable silence. She slipped her cell phone from her pants pocket and blearily examined the screen... and a surprised look came over her face.

"Who is it, Mai-chan?" Yasuhara asked.

"Keiko-chan," Mai replied, sounding mystified. "But isn't it still really early in Japan?" She whipped the phone to her ear. "_Keiko-chan? Is that you?_" she asked in Japanese. She was silent for a moment, obviously listening to someone. "_What do you mean, you're at the hospital?! Are you alright? Is Ikuto-kun alright?_"

Everyone exchanged nervous glances as Mai listened intently to the response. "_Well, that's good – but then why do you need to be at the hospital?_" Another pause. "_Oh... did you have food poisoning? That makes you throw up a lot."_

"Ah-ha," Madoka and Luella figured it out simultaneously.

Mai threw them a confused look – and missed Keiko's response. "_I'm sorry, Keiko-chan, what was that?_" A moment later, Mai's eyes went wide and a huge grin split her face. "_REALLY?_" She jumped up from the chair. "_Ai! Keiko-chan, that's wonderful! Oh, I'm so happy for you both!_" She turned to Yasuhara. "Keiko-chan is pregnant!" she exclaimed in English, bouncing in place.

"Hmm, that was pretty fast," Yasuhara joked. "Aren't she and Ikuto-kun still newlyweds?"

Mai giggled. "They can hear you, Yasu – I'm apparently on speakerphone. Ikuto-kun says that he is officially more of a man than you are."

"_By whose standards?_" Yasuhara called loudly in Japanese. "_At any rate, congratulations!_"

Luella looked a bit wistful. "That's just lovely," she noted - before shooting Naru a rather dark look.

Her adopted son read the look as, 'At least _somebody_ gets grandchildren.' He rolled his eyes.

Mai disappeared into another room to finish her phone call. Naru smiled slightly as the rise and fall of Mai's excited Japanese came through the wall. She was positively effervescent with excitement by the time she returned to the group.

"So that was a friend of yours, Mai dear?" Luella asked.

"Yes," Mai nodded happily. "I've known Keiko-chan since high school – Naru's met her, actually." She glanced at her former boss. "She was one of the girls telling ghost stories with me that day, remember?"

"Ghost stories?" Martin asked, grinning.

"Yeah," Mai laughed. "My school friends and I loved telling ghost stories after classes. We used to do it all the time. One day, we were telling one about the school itself when a strange and suspicious boy snuck in and scared the crap out of us." She glared at Naru – before becoming entranced by the open amusement in his eyes.

"Naturally, I wanted to hear that story," he replied, smirking. "Hearsay can be important on ghost hunts, and you were talking about the legends associated with a school I was hired to investigate."

"Strange and suspicious boy?" Madoka reiterated with a giggle.

"Well, yeah," Mai blushed. "Random guy we've never met, who's wandering around the school after hours – and tells us how old he is instead of what grade he's in, like a normal person would."

"You were the only one who thought there was anything amiss," Naru remembered. It had made him notice her. "Your friends didn't seem to care."

"That was because you actually had your Naru-charm flipped on," Mai retorted.

"Naru-charm?" Yasuhara snorted.

"Yeah, you know – when Naru pretends to have manners and smiles all disarmingly?"

Even Martin and Lin chuckled at that one.

"And yet you weren't 'disarmed,'" Naru noted. He had always wondered why.

"Your eyes weren't smiling," Mai answered his unasked question. "I knew you were faking it."

The great Oliver Davis' eyes widened slightly. Somehow, Mai consistently managed to surprise him. She giggled at the emotion on his face... but oddly, Naru couldn't find the wherewithal to glare into her dancing eyes.

"Your intuition at work, perhaps, Taniyama," Martin proposed. He threw a glance at his amusingly shocked-looking son. "Maybe too personal an anecdote for your paper, Noll?"

Naru gave his father a dirty look before returning to his case file.

"So this Keiko was recently married?" Luella surmised, imagining Noll as a groom in her head. That look he'd just given Mai was promising. And Luella would forbid an all-black ensemble. And NO black boutonnieres.

"Yes!" Mai answered happily. "I was in the wedding party."

"Oh, really?" Luella asked interestedly. "So Ayako's wedding won't be your first as an attendant?"

"Nope!" Mai answered. "But I've never been a maid of honor before, so I'm really excited!"

"Hmm. So your compatriots have already started marrying, huh?" Madoka had that dangerous light in her eyes again.

Martin heard _that_ tone in his former student's voice... and decided to retreat into research immediately.

"Just Keiko-chan," Mai shrugged, oblivious to Madoka's deeper game. "She and Ikuto-kun dated for most of high school – they were planning their wedding before we even graduated."

"Well, that's lovely," Madoka said brightly. "But what about _you_?"

Lin, who was not oblivious, sighed at Madoka's thinly-veiled scheme.

Mai only raised a puzzled eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"What have _you_ been up to?"

Mai's other eyebrow joined the first. "You mean other than finishing high school, going to college, testing, and going on cases?" Mai personally felt that was quite enough to be up to.

"No, no, Mai-chan. I mean _socially_." Madoka threw her prey a winning smile.

Oh. Madoka was asking about her _dating_ life. Mai shifted uncomfortably. "Well, you know most of my friends," she hedged. "And I still hang out with a couple of people from high school. Keiko-chan's the only one who's married, like I said."

"And what a lovely wedding it was," Yasuhara added dreamily. "Lots of lovely ladies all dressed up and excited for romance." Misinterpreting Mai's derisive snort, he quickly added, "None of which looked as pretty as my date did in her sexy red bridesmaid's dress, of course." Yasuhara winked suggestively at his best friend.

"Yasu!" Mai blushed and lobbed a throw pillow at his head.

"So _you_ were Mai's date?" Madoka asked curiously. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Noll's gaze zero in on the male transfer student.

"Yup," Yasuhara replied proudly. He flashed his mentor a covert grin. Mai had forbidden him from telling Madoka about That Person, but if they managed to get Mai to talk about it herself, he was off the hook. Affecting a casual tone, Yasu continued. "I stepped in as a replacement."

Madoka picked up the line. "Replacement?"

"Yeah," Mai replied unthinkingly. "I broke up with someone the week before Keiko-chan's wedding." Then she froze, unintentionally mirroring Naru's posture across the table.

Luella glanced at her son under her eyelashes. She was gratified to see that Noll was visibly affected by this unexpected information. Even when Martin handed him a case write-up sheet, Noll just stared like it was an untranslatable alien message.

"Really?" Madoka asked, voice all aflutter. "I didn't know you dated anyone recently!"

At the corner desk, Naru's thought processes started rolling again. Mai couldn't be talking about Gene. Yasuhara said he'd been her date to that wedding because she'd broken up with 'That Person' – and Gene had no body with which to attend a wedding. He couldn't even have 'attended' as a spirit; he was incapable of appearing in the real world. Therefore, Mai must have had a _living _boyfriend in Japan_. _ That did not gel with his theory about Mai and Gene... Mai's suddenly hard tone interrupted Naru's thoughts.

"Yes, I dated someone, and no, we are _not_ discussing That Person." Mai's warning glance to Yasuhara was answered by conciliatory hand-waving.

But it was too late. Madoka fired off questions like the professional investigator she was. "How long did you date this guy? Why do you call him 'That Person' instead of by name?" She had a sudden brainwave. "Is it because we _know_ him or something?"

The beleaguered teen sighed in defeat. The sooner she answered, the sooner it would be over. Madoka was like a dog on point right now; there was no evading her. "We dated for two months," Mai said resignedly, rolling her eyes. "I call him 'That Person' because Bou-san started saying that, and it just stuck. And I honestly don't know if you know him; he _is_ in the business."

"In the business? You mean... ghost hunting?" Madoka looked surprised.

In spite of himself, Naru was all ears. _Mai had dated another ghost hunter?_ His mind unconsciously highlighted the fact that he'd used the word 'another' in comparison with himself... but Naru shook the foolish thought away and listened for Mai's response.

"Well, he's a psychic, but he doesn't consider himself a ghost hunter," Mai replied. "He does do_ jourei_ exorcisms, though. He's a medium, like Masako-chan."

"Does he work for anybody I'd know?" Madoka wondered aloud. She was at least casually acquainted with most of the serious ghost hunting outfits in Japan.

"Um, he's more of a solo act," Mai replied evasively. "He was traveling in Japan when we met. He came to Todai to talk with one of my religion professors about exorcism theory."

Despite a renewed attempt to start writing up the case report, Naru's curiosity won out. Why did Mai always have to be so _cagy_ nowadays? It wasn't like she was talking about her (suspected) out-of-body relationship with Gene. After all, his ghostly brother couldn't have gone to talk to Mai's professor.

Naru couldn't help but wonder what Gene thought of Mai having had another boyfriend.

"Hmm..." Madoka relinquished the point. She sensed that Mai was going to clam up soon, and wanted to hit the most important topic. "So why did you break up?"

Having expected this question, Mai sighed heavily. "He... cheated on me."

"Ugh, what a scumbag!" Madoka cried immediately, sounding positively indignant. Mai snorted. Madoka sneaked a glance at Noll, who was trying (and failing) to look like he wasn't paying attention.

"It's alright," Mai said placatingly. "It was a while ago. But can we_ please_ talk about something else now?"

The master ghost hunter pouted... before noticing that Martin was glaring in her direction. He was obviously annoyed with her for upsetting his ever-more-fascinating student. Ugh, if _Martin_ was interfering, she should probably let it go. She could always try again at a later date. And now that the cat was out of the bag, maybe Yasu would be more cooperative.

But... there was one more thing Madoka wanted to know. "Have you had any other boyfriends?" she asked, watching Oliver out of the corner of her eye. He completely abandoned his pretense of writing to hear Mai's answer.

"Ah, no," the embarrassed girl said slowly, head down.

Naru mentally sorted through the several emotions he could hear in Mai's voice. Underneath the forced lightness of her tone, there was an edge of loneliness and disappointment. Naru's chest felt tight.

After a long moment, Lin cleared his throat. He felt rather duty-bound to save Mai from the not-so-tender questioning of his girlfriend. "Taniyama-san." Mai threw him a grateful look. "I regret that I won't be able to train you on Wednesday. I am leaving for China tomorrow morning, and I'll be there for a week."

"Really, Lin-san? Is everything alright?"

He gave her a tiny smile. "Yes, thank you, Taniyama-san. My parents are hosting a party in honor of the wedding anniversary of my paternal grandparents. I am expected to attend."

"Oh, I see." Mai's eyes slid to the suddenly sullen Madoka. Shouldn't Lin's girlfriend be going with him? They seemed pretty serious to Mai...

"Madoka darling, would you help me in the kitchen for a moment?" Luella asked, smoothing her skirt as she stood. The two women vanished in a flash. Mai was wondering if she should follow them when Lin spoke again.

"My paternal grandparents are also the cornerstone of my family's... stance toward the Japanese," the _onmyouji_ said haltingly. "I do not believe this particular celebration is appropriate for introducing Madoka."

The sound of angry yelling came from the kitchen.

"I don't think she agrees with you," Yasuhara observed.

"When does she ever?" Lin muttered under his breath.

Mai was trying to find something useful to say when Madoka suddenly breezed back into the room. She bypassed her seat and yanked Mai up by the arm. "Madoka-san, what's –"

"We're going out for coffee, Mai-chan," Madoka announced. "Right now. Luella's _really_ thirsty."

"Um," Mai tried to speak as she was yanked toward the front hall, but the (calmly) following Luella shook her head in warning.

"O-kay, so see you at the apartment, Mai-chan!" Yasuhara called jauntily. "I won't wait up!"

"Madoka wants to walk, so I'll take a cab home, Martin," Luella informed her husband. "Good night, darling. Oliver, I'm sure you'll be awake when I get home." Good night, Lin; good night, Yasu."

Lin opened his mouth to speak, but Madoka cut him off. "Goodnight, _Lin-san_. Fax those case notes to my office before you leave tomorrow morning."

And then the girls were out the door.

The four men left behind stared after them for a moment.

Eventually, Martin reached for the case notes Madoka had left behind. "This is why I prefer parapsychological discussion," he said to no one in particular.

-0O0-

Madoka's mood didn't break until Wednesday, when a viewing Mai's of regularly scheduled testing managed to distract her from Lin Drama.

_Lin Drama_. Mai giggled unwillingly, drawing odd looks from other SPR employees in the diner booth. It was just so _weird_ to think of Lin as the subject of drama. Especially _relationship_ drama.

It was also weird to get a glimpse of the less confident side of Madoka Mori. It had taken two hours and four cups of (thankfully decaf) coffee to calm Madoka into calling it a night. She had ignored at least ten calls from Lin, and the group had relocated twice in case he somehow found them (Madoka was convinced that Lin's _shiki_ were following them, even though Mai repeatedly told her she couldn't see any).

_Thank goodness for Luella_, Mai reminisced as she stretched her legs under the table. By the end of the night, Mrs. Davis had convinced Madoka to sleep at her own apartment (instead of hiding out at Mai's), _and_ to call Lin in the morning. (This phone call had reportedly gone okay, although Madoka was still noticeably unhappy.)

The whole experience had made Mai feel... more like a _friend_ to Madoka and Luella. The transfer student still saw Luella as a mother figure, and Madoka was still the lead investigator in charge of their SPR team... but the teen felt even more comfortable around them now. Mai remembered Michiru talking about something similar – as Michiru got older, she saw her mother as a parent _and_ a fellow adult. Kind of like Mai's relationship with Ayako_._

Mai smiled happily – her family was expanding. She pulled out her phone and scrolled through the contacts. There was Madoka's cell number, Lin's, Luella's, Martin's... and Naru's. She grinned giddily, tracing the numbers with tender eyes.

Speaking of numbers... Mai noticed that it was almost eight o'clock. No wonder she was so hungry. She hoped the waiter would bring their food out soon.

Wanting a distraction, Mai glanced down the table. At the far end of the booth, Martin looked strangely anxious. Madoka sat across from the professor, and was (worryingly) deep in whispered conversation with Yasu. They had been talking about training options, but Mai sincerely doubted that was still the topic of discussion. Naru apparently doubted it too, as he kept shooting them dark glances.

Mai caught his eye and gestured to the Troublesome Twosome, rolling her eyes. Naru's lips twitched, and Mai grinned back. Then rather suddenly, Naru eased out of the booth and made for the back of the diner. _Maybe he_ _wanted to hit the bathroom before the entrees came_?

The moment Naru was presumably out of earshot, Martin sprang to life. "Alright, he's gone. Let's talk strategy."

"Huh?" Mai asked dumbly. What was going on?

"Noll's birthday is next week," Madoka explained quickly. "And he's unswervingly un-celebratory about it."

"Well," Mai hedged, glancing at the professor. "Isn't that to be expected? I mean, Naru doesn't really do celebrations anyway, but... his birthday isn't just _his_ birthday. It's also..." She couldn't bring herself to say Gene's name in front of Martin. She had _never_ discussed Gene with his and Naru's adopted parents – not since the day she'd met them in Japan, anyway. She felt like she would be _intruding_ somehow.

"Quite right, Taniyama," Martin interjected, saving Mai the trouble of finishing her sentence. His voice sounded much tighter than usual. "But honestly, I'm not sure that Noll's chosen method of ignoring the issue completely is the healthiest way to go."

"It certainly isn't healthy for Luella," Madoka added. "Noll ignoring his birthday – and by proxy, ignoring Luella on his birthday – causes hours of crying every year."

"Indeed," Martin nodded heavily. "And that is not happening this time."

Mai pursed her lips. As much as she loved Luella and completely understood her depression concerning September nineteenth... it was still _Naru's_ birthday. If Naru wanted to ignore it and spare himself pain, then shouldn't _his_ wishes be respected over everyone else's? "But Naru –" she began.

"Has had his way these last three years, and it has not done a bit of good," Martin interrupted uncompromisingly. "For himself or for anyone else."

Suddenly, Madoka's hand was on Mai's. "Mai-chan, I know what you're thinking. And you're right – Noll is always going to be hurt over this, and Gene's death hurts him in ways that the rest of us cannot comprehend."

Mai blinked away the tears in her eyes.

"But," Madoka continued. "Noll also still wears black every day, hates his birthday, hardly ever discusses his feelings, and is extremely socially cut off."

"Naru hardly ever discusses _anything_, and he _likes_ being cut off," Mai argued, sniffling.

"Don't undermine the point, Mai-chan," Madoka chastised. "You know what I'm getting at."

"But do you really think forcing him to celebrate his birthday is going to help with any of that?" Mai asked, slightly incredulous. If anything, Mai imagined that such a move would only make Naru worse.

"Maybe not right away," Martin admitted. "But it's an important step toward moving on."

_Moving on_, Mai reiterated in her head. Naru was very worried because Gene wasn't _moving on_. But now that she thought about it... Gene wasn't the only one who was stuck.

"Okay," Mai said slowly. "I understand. So... what exactly do you guys want to do?"

-0O0-

AN: Okay, so surgery over, and I'm in the process of healing! After four days of being stuck in bed, I am practically stir crazy - but this chapter's finished!:) I know it's not the most action-packed one, but they just finished a case, lol. And besides, Yasuhara was itching for some more lines;)


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. The revamped novels and new manga would be out in English:)  
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**Chapter 26 – Finding Some Peace**

-0O0-

"So, what does Naru usually do on his birthday?" Mai asked. "Lock himself in his office for even longer than usual?"

"Essentially," Martin acknowledged. "His first year back in England, Noll went into work at dawn and didn't come home until after midnight. And while there, he refused to leave his office or see anyone. He wouldn't even open the door for _me_."

"I was on a case that day," Madoka remembered, sliding to the other side of the booth so that she could face Mai and Yasuhara. "Otherwise, I'd have just broken in."

Mai smiled half-heartedly, guilt eating at her insides. She had worked for SPR Japan for a year; she might have been there on September nineteenth. And she'd had no idea. Naru's birthday had come and gone, without anyone knowing save Lin.

_But then again, that was probably how he wanted it_, Mai thought sadly.

Madoka noticed Mai's forlorn expression, and squeezed the young ghost hunter's hand before continuing. "Last year, Noll managed to be on a case for his birthday. He would only take Lin with him; apparently, he was worried that I would try to do something birthday-related."

_"_Which you would have," Yasuhara alleged. Madoka winked at him.

"So the goal is to get Naru home for at least part of the day?" Mai summed up.

"Actually, that part's already done," Martin revealed. "I read Noll the riot act last night. It's a sad day for the entire family, and Noll's penchant for fleeing the situation only makes it worse."

Mai nodded slowly, unused to such emotional utterances from the professor.

"Luella's thinking that we should go out to dinner that night," Madoka informed the table. "That way it won't be a 'celebration,' per se... but we wouldn't be ignoring it, either. And Noll behaves marginally better in public, so there's a better chance of keeping him at the table. Besides, since we used to do birthdays at home before Gene's..." Madoka studied the table design for a moment. "Luella thinks that being out will be easier for everyone."

Unsure of what to say, Mai just nodded again. Then she thought of another worrisome issue. "What about birthday presents? I mean, Naru doesn't strike me a present-person, but..." She shrugged helplessly.

Martin made an amused noise. "You're right about that, Taniyama. Noll was never very concerned with presents, even before... the accident." Thankfully, a positive memory came to mind. "For example," Martin started, a genuine smile forming on his lips, "Every Christmas morning, Gene would be downstairs before sunup, rattling boxes and separating everything into piles – while Noll sat at his desk near the tree, drinking tea and reading with a blanket around his shoulders." Looking up, Professor Davis found himself surprised by the level of captivation his reminiscences seemed to engender in Mai. _How... interesting_. Martin's mind turned over as he continued. "Luella or Gene would practically have to put the presents in Noll's hands before he would bother opening them. So no, he doesn't much care for the practice. However, it's important to his mother, so Noll generally acquiesces. Luella and I are giving him several new books, as well as clothes."

"Lin and I got him new video software," Madoka whispered (as if Naru could somehow hear her from the bathroom). "It's more sensitive than the stuff we use now; with shutter-speed style play-back and better color grading."

Mai bit her lip. How was she going to compete with _that?_ Come to think of it, what else would Naru actually _like?_ Books and equipment would have been her go-to ideas...

Having noticed her distress, Yasuhara nudged his best friend. "Don't worry, Mai-chan, we'll think of something. I was going to suggest books, but apparently the professor's got that covered... oh, wait, I know! What about some new varieties of tea? That stuff that you and Ayako brought back from the monks is pretty delish. We can have her air-mail us some of it!"

Mai barely heard his last sentence. Her mind had stopped on 'monks.' She actually _did_ have something she could give Naru... something she'd always _meant_ to give him. "I... have a present already," she said slowly, eyes far away. "I can't believe I forgot about it."

"What is it?" everyone at the table asked simultaneously.

The sudden chorus of voices snapped Mai out of her daze. Three Investigative Stares were trained unblinkingly on her. "Um... well, Ayako has this really famous friend – he's been a patient of hers for years. He's an ascetic monk, a very old one. And he's a recluse. He gets kind of twitchy around people... I remember thinking that he and Naru were kinda alike." Mai giggled. "Anyway, I met with him, back when I was having a few control problems. Ayako asked him to look me over to make sure my _qi_ was okay."

'_Control problems_,' she thought to herself. _That was a bit of an understatement_. Mai had just undergone the transfer, and her powers were _all over_ the place. The very week Ayako dragged her to see Tominaga-sama, Mai had two visions about past tenants of her apartment building, caused three glasses and a picture frame to explode, and experienced The Nightmare every single night. Bou-san and Ayako had been practically frantic... and Mai hadn't exactly known what to tell them.

"Wait," Yasuhara cut into her thoughts. "Are you going to give Big Boss your _sutra?_"

"No," Mai denied quickly. Then she looked down at the table and tried hard not to blush. "I'm giving him _his_ sutra."

-0O0-

Mai woke up very early the morning of September nineteenth. Unfortunately, she was also screaming, choking, and running for the toilet to throw up water that wasn't really there.

After a few awful minutes, Mai collapsed against the bathroom wall, feeling the grainy wallpaper at her back and soaking up the chill from the tiled floor. Even though the cold made Mai's shivering worse, the tile felt reassuringly solid beneath her.

It wasn't the expected time for a recurrence... but she shouldn't be surprised that she'd dreamt of Gene's death on his birthday. She wondered sadly if Naru was having the same problem.

At this thought, Mai's fingers curled and locked into the grooves between the tiles. She didn't have to be in front of a mirror to know a look of determination was settling across her face. She was going to help Naru get through his birthday today...

No matter how exhausted she was. For the second time ever, the vision of Gene's death had come multiple times in one night.

Footsteps sounded in the living room, and Mai sighed in frustration. Yasuhara had woken up this time, despite how quiet she'd tried to be. She'd even managed to keep the after-waking screams to a minimum.

The first thing Yasuhara noticed upon easing open the bathroom door was the smell. And not the sick smell of vomit, although that was certainly present. But underneath that smell was the distinct smell of cleaning fluid; Mai always sanitized the bathroom after she threw up. And since she had only just finished retching... that bleach-y smell implied she was on round two. "Mai-chan?" Yasuhara asked evenly. "This isn't the first time you've been in here tonight, is it?"

Mai was too tired to deny it. Ugh, now Yasu was probably going to call Bou-san after he helped her back to her room...

And he did. She fell back to sleep trying to listen to Yasu's side of a hushed, frantic telephone conversation.

-0O0-

Afternoon sunlight streamed into her room, turning the insides of Mai's closed eyelids orange and forcing her to wakefulness. She groaned and fumbled for the fizzy drink she saw on the nightstand. Lifting the bottle to dry lips, Mai welcomed the cool slide of liquid on her parched throat. As the trauma of the previous night assaulted her memory, Mai decided to make some tea as soon as humanly possible. "Yes, tea," she promised herself.

"Mai-chan?" Madoka's voice came from the other room. The surprise visitor roused Mai enough to lever herself out of bed and stumble to the door. Sure enough, there was Madoka, sitting on the couch with Yasu and watching TV.

"What's going on?" Mai rasped. _Stupid throwing up_. Clearing her throat, she tried again. "Hi, Madoka-san. What are you doing here?"

"Checking up on you, obviously." Madoka raised an eyebrow. "Bou-san and Ayako were very concerned."

The teen's still-sleepy mind wondered where Naru was. He was usually the first responder to her psychic issues.

As if reading her mind, Yasuhara said, "We decided it would be best to keep Naru out of the loop for today."

Mai nodded tiredly, collapsing next to Madoka on the couch. "Good. He doesn't need any more reminders of why this day sucks. Dealing with my death-vision issues would probably make it worse."

"That reminds me," Yasuhara said suddenly, "I meant to ask you, Mai-chan – how did Naru find out that your Nightmare is about Gene? Did you tell him during your fight?"

"No, he already knew," Mai murmured. "He figured it out ages ago. Naru sort of tricked me into telling him that the vision ended in drowning." She rolled her eyes, remembering how he'd used her 'weakness for his face' to trap her.

Then Madoka froze beside her, and Mai suddenly regretted her casual mien. Madoka had been close to Gene, too. But she only said, "Oh, Mai-chan."

"I'm sorry to have been so blunt, Madoka-san," Mai apologized sincerely.

"I spend my time with a lot of blunt people, Mai-chan," Madoka replied with a small smile, "Myself included."

"I know, but..."

"Why didn't you tell the rest of us it was Gene, if Noll already knew?" Madoka interjected curiously. "For that matter, why didn't Noll tell anyone?"

Mai sighed heavily. She couldn't be sure of Naru's motives, although she guessed that they were along the same lines as hers. "Because the Professor or Luella could have found out," she replied softly.

Madoka nodded understandingly... and then pulled Mai into an unexpected hug. The teen psychic was rather shocked to see tears in Madoka's eyes. But then again, it _was_ Gene's birthday.

"No matter what we do," Mai said into Madoka's shoulder, "Today isn't going to be fun for anyone."

Wanting to give them some space, Yasuhara ran off to make tea.

Madoka released Mai, but kept an arm around her. "No, it's not. But spending the day together might make it a_ little_ less awful. And honestly, it's about time that Noll realizes having people around can be a help rather than a hindrance." The master ghost hunter sat back, and gave Mai a piercing look. "Which brings me to an important point."

Mai just waited, eyes uncomprehending.

"If Noll is going to talk it out with anyone, it's going to be you," Madoka declared.

"What?" Mai asked incredulously. "Naru hardly tells me anything!" She had worked for the man for a year without knowing his real identity, for crying out loud!

"Hmm. I was under the impression that he's actually rather forthcoming with you," Madoka argued, a smile creeping into her voice.

Mai shook her head vehemently. "I don't think so," she insisted.

"But he totally _is_, Mai-chan," Yasuhara contradicted from the kitchen area. He handed Mai and Madoka cups of tea before returning with his own. "Think about it. When everyone was wondering what the divers were looking for in the lake, Naru told you – and _only_ you – about his lost brother. You're the one he explains ghost hunting stuff to all the time. _And_ you're the one he used PK in front of – three times – before revealing it to the rest of us."

"He used it because we fell down the well!" Mai argued, inexplicably frantic to prove Yasuhara wrong. "He'd have done it to save any of us!"

"True," Madoka admitted. "But Noll_ did_ tell you about Gene before anyone else – and that's a big deal. And Yasu is right about the explanations – when we were on the Urado case, I noticed that Noll usually answered _your_ questions. He pretty much ignored everyone else's."

Mai's mouth flopped like a landed fish. They were right about Gene, but couldn't that have been because she asked about it before anyone else?

"And he used his _life-threatening_ PK to do 'magic' for you in the well, right?" Yasuhara asked, grinning slyly. He'd been saving that tidbit for a good moment. And his patience paid off – Mai burned brilliantly red.

"Lin says that Noll bent a spoon in front of you," Madoka added, smiling as she prepared to throw down her pièce de résistance. "_And_ he asked you to keep it a _secret_ from everyone."

Mai studiously avoided the twin Cheshire Cat grins aimed her way. "Whatever," she conceded. She wasn't going to win this one.

"Glad you see it our way, Mai-chan," Madoka said brightly. Then quite suddenly, her smile dropped off and the master ghost hunter became quite serious. "With that in mind, I have a favor to ask of you. Noll is probably going to behave today for Luella's sake, but he's bound to be feeling awful. We thought maybe you could get him to talk."

"Whaaat?" Mai asked, eyes wide. "Even if – and I mean_ if_ – Naru tends to talk to me more than other people, what makes you think he'd welcome me prying into his thoughts on what must be a very difficult day for him?"

"I didn't say it would be _easy_, Mai-chan," Madoka noted earnestly. "But even if you can't get him to open up about Gene, you've definitely got the best chance of making him talk about _something_. Just drag Noll off someplace and _talk_. About Japan, Todai, TTMPI, anything." Madoka was pretty sure that just being alone with Mai would make Noll feel better - even if neither of them understood their effect on the other.

Mai gulped in trepidation, but remembered the promise she'd made in the dark of the bathroom – that she would help Naru through this day. She also remembered what Naru had done for her on _Obon_. "Okay," Mai replied, steeling her spine. "I'll do it."

"Excellent," Madoka said, smiling in satisfaction. "Now, go get dressed. We need to leave for dinner in an hour." She pushed Mai in the direction of the bathroom.

"Eep!" Mai grabbed her bathrobe and ran for the shower.

-0O0-

As Madoka had anticipated, dinner was an uneasy affair. Naru was unquestionably present... but even more distant than usual. And _everyone _resolutely avoided the elephant (or spirit) in the room. Mai was sitting next to Luella, and the teen psychic did her best to keep Mrs. Davis talking; by dessert, Mai knew more about English gardens than she imagined most people did.

Conspicuously, there was no cake. Naru had given Martin a rather savage glare when it was time to place dessert orders – and Professor Davis got the message loud and clear. Luella seemed upset, but she didn't argue.

It was only worse when they got back to the house. Like any other day, everyone settled around the television... but unlike any other day, they actually watched it. Mai felt pressured to talk, but simply didn't know what to say. Even Yasu and Madoka looked a bit lost. And Mai wasn't sure what they were going to do about the presents. Naru was staring forbiddingly at the television, and he pointedly ignored anyone who spoke to him. Mai fingered her key necklace nervously.

Eventually, Naru just up and left the sitting room. His steps sounded heavy on the front stairs. After ten minutes and a couple of significant glances from Madoka, Mai followed his lead. Before heading into battle, though, Mai made sure to brew a pot of Earl Grey.

When it was ready, Mai stretched out with her senses and found Naru's aura upstairs. She snuck into the front entryway, retrieved her thankfully small present, and padded carefully up the carpeted steps. Mai wandered slowly down the hallway, locked onto Naru's presence. She passed the always-closed door that led to Gene's bedroom (thank goodness he wasn't in there), and wound up in the study. The French doors were open, and Mai could see Naru out on the balcony, his black clothes blending with the night.

She dropped her wrapped present on the table for later – she didn't want to start this off with a birthday-reminder. Shoring up her courage and gripping the tea cups tightly, Mai stepped out onto the balcony.

Naru barely turned his head at her approach, and Mai wondered if he'd heard her coming. Wordlessly, she handed him his favorite beverage and turned to face the night. Naru didn't talk at all, but he didn't walk away, either. They stood quietly for a moment, before Mai sucked it up and broke the silence.

"Why is tea the go-to in our countries?" she asked, eyes on the gently waving plants by the lake.

Naru shifted beside her. "It's the result of a series of parallel societal developments. Japan uses tea in most of its traditional ceremonies; as a highly ritualistic country, that places tea at the center-stage of culture."

"And here? Luella says England solves everything with tea."

Naru huffed with what might have been a chuckle. "It's a conditioned response." At Mai's raised eyebrow, he continued. "Some people deal with problems over tea from a young age; eventually, our bodies and minds are conditioned to expect it. Perhaps even crave it in times of crisis." He took another sip.

Mai had to laugh at his scientific explanation. "Gotta make it sound like a treatise, don't you, Naru?"

"You asked."

"I did," she agreed, smiling out at the dark yard.

Unbeknownst to Mai, Naru's face softened as he surreptitiously studied her profile. Mai's hair blew gently in the wind, and a sense of peace stole over him as he gazed at its ebb and flow. Normally such a reaction would concern him, but Naru wasn't in the mood to question his emotions. _Her voice sounds better now_, he thought idly. _Not so raspy_. Mai had sounded a bit hoarse when she'd arrived at the house before dinner.

Naru also been surprised that Mai and Yasu had arrived in Madoka's car. According to Lin, Madoka had supposedly been out shopping. This had struck him as moderately suspicious. And then at dinner, he'd watched Madoka, Lin, and Yasuhara all take turns observing Mai. Yasuhara had eventually suggested (in a voice so low that Naru had to strain to hear) that Mai drink a lot of water to re-hydrate herself.

So _something_ had happened. Madoka must have been dispatched to check on Mai, which inferred that the something was paranormal in nature. And naturally, the idiots decided not to involve Naru, as it was his _birthday_.

Even thinking the word left a sour taste in his mouth. Naru hadn't been fond of this day when Gene was alive; now it was thoroughly dreaded. He would much rather have handled Mai's drama than stew in his office or go out to dinner. Mai's issue would have been a welcome distraction from thinking about Gene. Naru studied the sleeve of his black shirt. Though Gene's memory was never far from his mind or his wardrobe, on this day the grief closed in on Naru like a vise. Feeling his throat tighten, Naru took another sip of tea – and smiled ironically at the 'conditioned' sense of relief it brought him.

As Mai sipped at her own tea, Naru considered the evidence – Mai's raspy throat and talk of re-hydration. Both of these factors were associated with vomiting... and the only time Naru had ever known Mai to vomit was in response to her recurring death-vision.

So she'd dreamt about Gene last night. That would make sense... after all, Naru himself had woken up in a cold sweat this morning, having seen the lights of the car in his dreams and feeling the remembered pain of the car's second impact across his ribs. Naru bit the inside of his cheek. Mai's primary physical reaction was always about Gene's actual death, about the end of the vision. Gene had drowned as he'd held onto life by a thread – and Mai woke up gagging on the lake water that had choked him.

But for Naru, it would always be about the car, the fear... the woman who'd hit his twin twice and thrown his body away. It was entirely possible that Mai didn't know Gene's thoughts, as Naru did. In fact, Naru hoped she didn't. The emotions Gene felt as he saw the car coming were burned into Naru's consciousness forever. The fear of the car, the terror that no one could help him, the horror that he would never see his family again, never know his next birthday...

Yes, Naru _hated_ their birthday now. He felt guilty and awful that Gene was not here. Sad when he remembered Gene's annoying excitement about cake and presents. Ached when he remembered Gene's yammering on about the new things they could do at whatever age they were.

Then he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. Mai. Naru could feel the heat from her palm warming the skin beneath his thin shirt. Her presence shielded him from the light wind... and from his heavy thoughts. Mai's eyes were large and soft, filled with emotion. Naru looked steadily back at her for a moment before looking away.

"When my mother died," Mai began softly.

Naru's eyes flew back to her face. She was looking out at the yard again.

"I didn't know what to do, or how to cope." Mai bit her lip. "We had gotten through my father's death together – although I'm sure it was worse for my mother, since I don't actually remember him very clearly. But we were definitely each other's support system."

Naru understood that very well. He and Gene had been each other's 'support system.' Orphaned together in the world as children, isolated together as telepathic and psychic teenagers.

"I just felt alone, lost, a leaf in the wind." Mai had never told any of her friends this. She knew they wouldn't really understand, and she didn't want to be seen as pitiful. "At the funeral, I remember looking at my mother's picture for grounding. I looked at it and knew where I was, what I was doing. But afterwards... I had no relatives anymore, no one to guide me... I didn't know what to do."

"Didn't your teacher take you in right away?" Naru asked quietly.

"I only lived in our family's apartment until the end of the month," Mai affirmed. "And I spent the last week of that month moving things to my teacher's place. At least that gave me something to do, some kind of purpose. But... a lot of stuff went into storage. That was hard. I hated boxing up so many of my things, not knowing when I would see them again. But I didn't want to clutter up my teacher's apartment." She foundered for a moment, before thinking of something else to say. "Storing my things made me start thinking, though. That living on my own would be okay."

"How so?"

Mai internally rejoiced that Naru was still talking, still listening. "Well, I figured if I ever wanted to see my stuff again, or do things my own way again, I would have to live on my own. And somehow... that made it seem less scary."

This statement wreaked a sort of havoc inside Naru. Mai had a habit of accidentally pushing buttons she didn't know were there...

While in Japan, Naru had been (more or less) living on his own. Lin had been with him, but Naru had mostly operated as his own separate entity. He had run SPR, chosen who to hire, when to eat, when to sleep, what to buy, etc.

And like Mai had said, that new independence was a powerful motivator. It had successfully distracted Naru from constant grief, as Mai implied happened with her. Although Naru was still caught up in the desperate desire to find Gene's body, he had several new day-to-day activities into which he could retreat.

More importantly, living on his own had made Naru realize that he could 'break the mold,' so to speak. Since birth, Naru's only constant had been his twin, and so he had molded his life around his relationship with Gene. Gene's untimely death had left him alone - really alone - for the first time ever. Naru felt lost, left behind... but life in Japan showed him that it could be different. Naru didn't _have_ to stay isolated in a box that no longer functioned. He could break out of it, and follow a new track. But... Naru had returned to England, and the inspiration vanished.

Unbidden, the idea of going back to Japan snuck into his thoughts.

Naru's first move to Japan had revolved around his already-existing life and goals – but relocating a second time would be different. If Naru moved back to Japan, he'd be blazing a new path. He'd be moving forward.

_Moving forward_ – a concept that Naru had left largely unexplored. Upon his arrival in England, it had been back to business as usual... only without Gene. He had his grieving parents to think about, and he had the work he'd abandoned for Japan. Naru wasn't exactly unhappy; he'd missed his adopted parents, and he'd wanted to finish writing that treatise. But Naru couldn't help but feel like he was stepping right back into the broken box.

Before most of SPR Japan burst back into his life, Naru had been growing noticeably disenchanted with his situation. He felt like he was just treading water, running around in circles he'd already run. Even the most interesting cases his father found didn't catch Naru's attention the way they had in the past. Naru could chalk some of that up to missing Gene... but it was also because Naru had gotten a taste of running the show in Japan. Being the lead investigator had been really satisfying, and returning to a subordinate position really rankled.

And if Naru were really honest with himself – as he seemed to be, tonight – ghost hunting simply wasn't as interesting without his Japanese SPR team. Their various abilities and convoluted personalities added a certain _something_ to cases. It was why Naru had continued to employ them all, despite their tendency to irritate him.

And Mai... was different still. Mai wasn't _irritating_ so much as _confounding_. Naru had hired her first, and he'd... missed her most. (He could barely admit it, even in his own mind.)

Maybe it was her tea. (He had much less of a problem admitting he missed that.) Maybe it was because Mai had been around constantly, rather than only on cases. And of course, her psychic abilities were certainly enough to interest any researcher. Then there was her attitude – Mai's fiery and contradictory personality was both interesting and entertaining... and always amusing to poke at. Twenty years old he may be, but Naru undeniably enjoyed messing with her.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mai shift tiredly in place, barely awake. If she _had_ dreamt of Gene's death, she'd probably had a very long day. Without further ado, Naru took Mai by the arm, towed her half-asleep form back into the study... and stopped. _Now what?_

He didn't want to go back downstairs, where a crowd of overly concerned 'celebrators' lay in wait. Naru felt he'd done his filial duty, and dealt with his birthday appropriately. But it wouldn't be fair to send Mai down there alone, especially after she'd tried her hardest to make him feel better (and hadn't been entirely unsuccessful). So Naru deposited Mai on the study's couch... where she immediately started to shiver. He sighed resignedly, and headed for the corner cupboard. Luella kept a quilt handy for when one of the house's workaholic scientists fell asleep while reading. Naru covered Mai with it before relocating their empty tea cups to a table.

Upon which sat a small, wrapped box. A birthday present. Naru's eyes flashed to Mai. She shifted slightly, her fingers closing around the blanket. "How'd I get here?" she murmured.

Naru refused to admit he'd done it. Instead, he picked up the present from the table. It was surprisingly light – what could be inside? A gasp sounded beside him. Mai was suddenly wide awake, her eyes fixed on the gift box.

Ugh, she'd forgotten she brought that up with her! "Ah... yeah, so that's your present," Mai said stupidly. "I, um, didn't want to push it on you or anything... but I didn't want you to think I didn't have one, either." Naru didn't respond; he just turned the box over in his hands and nimbly ripped through the wrapping. Mai felt a momentary surge of jealousy that Naru could be graceful even when tearing shiny paper. She held her breath as he gazed inside.

Naru immediately understood why the box had been so light. Inside was a single sheet of heavy rice paper, glued to a bamboo scroll. Most of the sheet was covered with beautifully scripted _kanji_ characters. Of course, it had to be a language he couldn't read... Naru wondered for a moment if Mai were trying to tease him somehow. But the soft, nervous look on her face eliminated that possibility. Mai noticed his scrutiny and blushed.

"It – it's a sutra," she told him, her voice shaky. She looked like she wanted to say more, but was too nervous. When that happened with a client, Naru usually fixed the problem by looking elsewhere. So he focused on the sutra, tracing his fingers along the thick paper.

"One of Ayako's patients is a really famous Mahayana ascetic monk," Mai said finally. Naru's fingers paused on the scroll, but he didn't speak. "His name is Tominaga Sakihiko-sama." At this, Naru had to look up. He knew of this monk; Lin admired his views on vegetarianism and spirituality. Was Mai implying that this sutra was written by Tominaga?

"He's kind of a hermit... even in the monastery," Mai continued. "Ayako and I had to wait for the other monks to retrieve him from wherever he was hiding."

"You traveled to Fukui?"

Mai laughed. "_Of course_ you've heard of Tominaga-sama. Yes, Ayako goes to him – but she likes it that way. She says the trees at Eiheiji Temple are really great to talk to. And I went with her once. When the Nightmare first started, Ayako was really concerned about me..." Mai trailed off, internally kicking herself. Why oh why did she go there _tonight?_

"Bou-san said that the vision came very often, at first," Naru noted softly.

Mai looked up, shocked at the unexpected assist. "Yes, it did. It really freaked everybody out. I was also, um, having some PK issues... Ayako thought the new powers might have upset my _qi_ somehow, and that was why the vision kept coming. So when she went to Fukui for Tominaga-sama's annual physical, she asked him to look me over as a favor. He agreed, and we talked for a while."

Naru finally glanced up at Mai. She was staring into the distance, eyes glazed over in memory. "Tominaga-sama checked out my aura, and then we meditated together. I was really nervous at first... but eventually, I felt calmer than I had since the first PK-MT incident."

And here Naru had to bite his tongue – he definitely wanted to know more about Mai's 'first PK-MT incident.' They hadn't really talked about it yet; Naru's focus had been on Gene. Now that the truth was out, Naru had a plethora of topics he very much wanted to discuss with Mai.

"We had a long talk about my psychic issues and the state of my _qi_. Tominaga-sama said..." Mai cut herself off, eyes wide – as if she'd almost said something she shouldn't. Naru's eyes narrowed.

"Anyway," she segued badly, "He said that my _qi_ would be okay after a while, but in the meantime..." Mai smiled at the sutra in the box. "He wrote me a personalized sutra."

Naru's mental processes, which had been busily analyzing what Mai was trying _not_ to say, suddenly screeched to a halt. His eyes snapped up to meet Mai's. "You are giving me your personalized sutra?" he asked incredulously.

Mai smiled. "No, no – mine's in my room at the apartment," she said. "This one was written for... well, it was written for you." A bright blush suffused Mai's face, and she ducked her head in embarrassment.

Naru was momentarily caught between responding and watching the blush spread downward along the column of Mai's neck. Shaking himself internally, he asked, "Written for me?" His voice came out rougher than he intended, and Naru didn't blame Mai for the surprised look she gave him.

Mai took a moment to gather her wits. She knew she was blushing, knew her gift was rather personal... and though she couldn't tell what Naru was thinking, he certainly sounded more emotional than usual. The thought only made her blush hotter, and Mai hurried to speak. "Um, yes. I had... mentioned you to Tominaga-sama," she admitted. "You're the only other person I know who has PK. And I'd said that you had trouble with yours, too... and that because of your... loss, your _qi_ was probably screwed up, too."

Now Mai felt really stupid. She had come to make Naru feel better, and here she was bringing Gene up when everyone else had abstained. She hung her head. "I'm sorry, I can't believe I said that, I..."

"I don't mind," Naru interrupted. He stared hard at a bookshelf. "I'd actually rather _not_ spend Gene's birthday pretending he never existed."

Mai's mouth dropped open at his unexpected admission. She'd thought Madoka was nuts... but here Naru was, opening up to her. She really, really wanted to reach out and grab his hand – Mai was a physical comforter. But this was _Naru_, and Mai couldn't imagine he'd enjoy that. So she had to say something.

"I... I understand that," she told him softly. "Every year, I used to have a sleepover on my mother's death anniversary with Keiko and Michiru. They didn't want me to be alone." Mai shifted on the couch, not wanting Naru to see her teary eyes. She didn't see his fingers tighten on the gift box.

"We would play games, eat take-out, and stay up watching scary movies." Mai gave the silent Naru a quick smile. "I knew that they were trying to distract me – and I appreciated it." Mai looked down at her lap again. "But by the end of the night, we always wound up talking about my mom. The whole day was really about her, even if we tried to act otherwise. And honestly, it made me feel better to talk about her."

Naru heard the invitation in Mai's voice. He studied the sutra in his lap, and spoke slowly. "Gene was always excited about our birthday," he said tonelessly. "He always seemed to think we got new privileges with every age. When we were this old, we could have bigger beds. When we were this old, we could go on the Underground by ourselves." Naru rolled his eyes. "He'd go around talking about these things for weeks... and eventually Martin and Luella would just go with it."

Against her will, Mai giggled. Naru didn't seem to mind, though.

"So for our tenth birthday, we got new beds. And on our thirteenth birthday, Gene 'celebrated' by dragging me around London by train. We rode the Tube for at least three hours... and we didn't really _go_ anywhere. Gene thought he'd tricked Luella into decreeing we were old enough – but I think she just wanted him to shut up about it."

"Wait... you guys could go ghost hunting, but you couldn't take the train by yourselves?" Mai asked incredulously.

Naru smirked. "We were usually chaperoned on cases. And I think the danger of our occupation made Luella more circumspect with our free time activities. Besides, Gene had a terrible habit of disappearing when left to his own devices." The moment the words left his mouth, Naru froze, the irony of his casual statement hitting hard.

It wasn't lost on Mai, either – she promptly overrode her reservations against physical contact, and placed her hand on Naru's white-knuckled one. A muscle in his cheek twitched, but he didn't fling her off.

"By age fifteen, Gene had decided that he was going to start learning to drive," Naru continued. "He didn't publicize that one, though. He did it behind everyone's backs, at night, with some of his equally idiotic friends." Mai's snort of amusement relaxed Naru enough for an eye roll. "How he thought he could conceal this illegal activity from his telepathically-linked twin is anyone's guess."

"Well, you can usually tell what I'm thinking without a telepathic link, so I can't imagine Gene stood a chance," Mai interjected. She was exceedingly grateful that the transfer had not linked her _telepathically_ to Naru. That would have been terrifying.

Not to mention mortifying, as Mai's one-sided love would probably have been telegraphed to Naru the second she stepped off the plane at Heathrow.

"Whatever you're thinking is written all over your face," Naru deliberately reiterated his words from years ago, when they were stuck in the well. But then he felt compelled to correct himself. "Sometimes." Mai had developed a measure of caginess, which Naru both respected and hated. He blamed the combined influence of Gene and Yasuhara.

"Well, I had to learn _some_ self-preservation tricks," Mai argued. "I was a lead investigator at TTMPI, under constant scrutiny from clients. I'm also friends with Yasu, who could... how did Madoka-san say it? Oh, yeah – could pry blood from a stone if you gave him an hour."

Naru's lips twitched upwards briefly.

"Besides, once I knew we were heading to London, I figured I better brush up on my game face." Mai threw Naru a smirk, only to be rewarded with a sudden glare.

"Of course you did," Naru said bitterly, "You needed to be able to lie convincingly about Gene." The familiar twisting in his gut made an appearance.

Unexpectedly, Mai met his gaze squarely. Her eyes were fierce.

"Yes, I did," she said firmly. "He thought it was very important."

Any retort was stymied by Naru's surprise at Mai's bluntness, and swallowed by his grudging admiration for her bravery. He was also rather glad to witness the return of her openness. "He was wrong," Naru finally said. "I know, and nothing's changed."

Mai sighed. _You DON'T know, and things WILL change_. "But you _want_ something to change," she said aloud.

"Something _has_ to change," Naru corrected. "Gene _has_ to move on."

"He will," Mai assured him.

"But not at twenty," Naru said, almost to himself. "Nothing new for our twentieth birthday." Then he smirked deprecatingly. "I suppose there wouldn't be, though. Gene only made it to sixteen."

He felt Mai's hand tighten over his, her fingers curling around his palm.

"But _you're_ twenty," she whispered. "And that's how he'd want you to see it."

Naru said nothing; they both knew she was right. Instead, he traced the lines of the sutra with his free hand. "I'd heard that Tominaga-sama was known for calligraphy," he offered. "Not that I can read it."

Mai giggled. She wasn't sure if she should let go of Naru's hand... so she recklessly kept holding it. She reckoned that her secret-protecting gloves were quite a hindrance right now; Mai could feel the heat of Naru's hand through the small holes in the fabric, but it wasn't the same as actually _touching_ him.

"Well, I can tell you what it says," she offered. "It's a sutra to help you find peace in life and spirit. And to help balance your _qi_. The sutra is very similar to mine." Here Mai blushed again, remembering what Tominaga-sama had said about the similarity. "It's a beautiful sutra – but it might be better for Lin or Bou-san to teach it to you properly. I... can't interpret the lines like a master could." She bit her lip.

"Mai," Naru said curiously. "_Why_ did Tominaga-sama write this for me?"

Mai blushed horribly. "Um, he did it because I asked him to."

For the umpteenth time since Mai had come to London, Naru felt thrown. _What? Why would she have...? _"Why?" he managed, looking her straight in the eye.

"Honestly? Because I felt like I should," Mai answered slowly, a clarity to her gaze that Naru usually associated with Mai's psychic abilities.

"You mean to say that your intuition was involved?" he asked shrewdly.

Mai nodded. "The question was out of my mouth before I'd even really thought about it," she affirmed. "So maybe you need it... just like I did."

Naru wondered if his meddling twin had anything to do with this particular psychic suggestion. Then again... given Mai's need to help the people she cared about, himself included, maybe that gut feeling was all her. She did have an uncanny way of knowing just what to say to him – this whole evening being an excellent example.

He regarded the sutra under his fingers. It was really a valuable gift – both objectively and personally. "Thank you," Naru told Mai. He _had_ to say it; she'd certainly gone above and beyond, tonight. Hopefully, she'd freak out enough that he wouldn't have to tell her so.

Mai's grip on his hand fell slack, and Naru looked up to see her gaping at him. He smirked widely, greatly amused by Mai's shocked face and staring eyes. His brief show of outright gratefulness had rendered her speechless – just as he'd expected.

Naru took advantage of her shock, abruptly rising from the couch and making a break for the desk. That was about as much emotion as he could deal with. Mai remained silent as he examined the nearest bookshelf. He'd have to do something quick if he wanted to keep her quiet.

So he pulled two volumes of historical paranormal studies from their places, and walked one over to the still-astonished Mai. She took it with all the speed of an arthritic ancient. Naru smirked again – and broke his own spell. Mai glared daggers into him.

But then she just snuggled furiously into the blanket, and cracked open the book (with righteous indignation). Possibility of yelling averted. Naru smirked more widely, and settled down at the desk. From the way Mai was positioned – lying down, head on the pillow, under a warm blanket... Naru calculated that she'd last about twenty minutes before falling asleep. He would have guessed ten minutes, if Mai hadn't been enraged by his own smugness.

Sure enough, he looked up at the end of the first chapter to see Mai's eyes drooping, book closed on her chest. Naru rolled his eyes and settled back into his father's favorite chair, intent on reading the rest of his birthday away...

And Oliver Davis felt a sudden pang in his chest. He'd just thought of today as 'his' birthday, rather than as 'their' birthday, his and Gene's. And he'd probably done so earlier, as well. Not sure whether this was progress or loss, Naru's gaze swept the room for something to distract him – and fixated on Mai's now completely unconscious form. Her arm was drooping over the side of the couch, the book was on the floor, and her mouth was hanging open. For reasons Naru refused to contemplate, this undeniably endearing image gave him the equanimity to return to his book.

-0O0-

Well over an hour later, Luella slipped into the study. It was the only room upstairs with lights on, so it had to be where Noll and Mai were hiding out. She immediately located her son at the desk, reading. Maybe it was hope talking, but Luella thought that he seemed more... _serene_ than he had earlier.

After a moment, Noll's eyes met hers – and Luella was almost shocked to see the glow of _something_ in his gaze. It _wasn't_ just hope talking – that was a healthier expression than Noll had worn on any of his recent birthdays.

And to Luella, a mother _and_ a trained psychologist, it seemed like there was something _more_ buried in Oliver's steady regard. Like there was something _moving_ in Noll – a slow and subtle shift, obviously... but its very presence almost made Luella weep with relief.

Naturally, her eyes then searched for the person she imagined to be the catalyst for this tidal change. Noll noticed her efforts and gestured minutely to the couch. Luella followed his motion and found Mai fast asleep on the sofa, looking adorable. She wondered if her son thought the same.

Naru misinterpreted his mother's questioning look and said, "She just fell asleep there."

As if he'd had nothing to do with it. "Of course," Luella replied obligingly. _And Mai covered herself with a blanket from the cupboard she doesn't know is there. And she sat there with herself and drank two cups of tea. And then she opened your present for you. _Luella fought very hard not to smile. She didn't want Noll to get annoyed and spitefully ruin whatever progress toward social normality he'd made.

Honestly, just Noll's sitting in a room containing a sleeping person was significant. Noll had always stayed up late with his books, and for whatever reason, reading in the same room as a sleeping Gene bugged him. When they went on family vacations and the twins shared a room, Noll would invariably leave and seek a solitary place to study the night away. But here Noll sat, facing an unconscious Mai... and even flicking brief glances at her every so often.

Like he _wanted_ her here with him. Luella's throat grew tight with emotion. She bent to retrieve the tea cups in an effort to hide her teary eyes.

Naru looked up at the clanking sound, feeling the strange need to chide Luella for making noise so close to Mai. But the hour of quiet reading had brought Naru back to his functional normal, and he pushed the thought away. "Mother," he said instead. "I want to read two more chapters." _So stop distracting me_, was the unspoken message.

"Which I'm sure you'll want to read tomorrow," Luella replied firmly. "It's late, and I need to get Mai to her room."

Naru lifted a brow. "You mean to her apartment."

"No, Madoka took Yasu home already. Mai is going to stay in her room here."

The raised brow descended into a frown. "They left her here?" Naru found himself rather annoyed with Madoka and Yasuhara for abandoning a physically and psychically stressed Mai to her own devices. _Weren't they supposed to be watching over her?_

Luella grinned inwardly at her son's piqued tone. "Well, apparently Mai had _two_ troubling psychic episodes in a row last night, so Madoka, Martin and Lin have all decided that she should stay here so she can be _cared_ for by parapsychologists."

Naru heard the hint of sarcasm lining his mother's voice. "They want to observe her," he deduced.

"I am putting her to bed myself to keep from hooking her up that_ machine_," Luella stated firmly, glaring at Naru as if he'd been the one who'd suggested attaching electrodes to Mai's temples. She handed her son the empty tea cups. "You take those downstairs, and I'll tuck Mai away."

Naru was happy to follow his mother's order – that way he could question the others about what had happened. Had Mai had two _different_ death nightmares? Did Martin now know that Mai's normal dream was about Gene? Were they actually planning to hook her up to the EEG?

Personally, he didn't think they should run tests at the moment. Naru felt... churlish about running tests on an unconscious Mai after she'd done her best to help him tonight...

Meanwhile, Luella had a brilliant idea. "Ah! I should put Mai in one of my nighties, so that Martin and Lin will feel uncomfortable going near her!" Ha, her son looked rather uncomfortable already.

Naru froze upon hearing his mother's completely ridiculous suggestion - he wouldn't (normally) be bothered by such a thing. But then again... Martin and Lin _were_ rather prim like that. They could probably take one on the chin for science, though.

And then Naru had a vision of his father and Lin sneaking into Mai's room, sliming up her forehead with gel, and pushing aside a slippery nightdress to get at her chest with the cardiac monitor.

Luella grinned widely as Noll swept out of the room without another word. Satisfied that he was on her side, Mrs. Davis nudged Mai awake and led her to her usual guest bedroom. As Luella helped Mai change for bed, she imagined the look on Martin's face when Noll argued _against_ running tests on Mai tonight.

She tried to smother her giggles so as not to fully wake Mai. Then she pulled the blankets up and smoothed Mai's hair back from her face. "Thank you, darling," she whispered. "You did a wonderful job."

-0O0-

AN: Oh my goodness, this chapter took forever. And it was mostly written already! But it was so _long_ - I actually cut a lot back. Despite the apparent never-endingness, lol, this was one of my favorite chapters. I was so excited to finally get here:)

Oh, and thank you to the many people who've written about Gene learning how to drive in secret. I hear it's in the short stories, but I can't seem to find any translations online. So my knowledge of any of that stuff comes from fanfiction, lol.

And thank you again, everybody, for all the well-wishes! I am fully recovered now, and _so_ glad that's done!


	27. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Manga 12 would be in English, along with all the short stories that I can't find anywhere...  
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**Chapter 27 – Receptiveness**

-0O0-

Not for the first time, Mai Taniyama woke up in a bed without any memory of having gotten into one. A quick look around confirmed she was at the Davis estate; this was the guest room she'd slept in on her first night in England. But... _why_ was she here? _What happened last night?_

An answering flood of memories ran through her mind. One of the most crystal-clear (and embarrassing) ones was of Naru standing on the balcony, listening to her talk about how she'd felt when her mother died. They were both drinking tea, the grounds spread out in waving grass below them... the moonlight giving Naru's already-pale face a translucent sheen and making his dark eyes look like glowing liquid sapphires. Mai blushed again just thinking about it.

But at least her efforts had worked! Before she'd fallen asleep on the couch (again), Mai had subtly reached out with her powers to sense Naru's aura – and it hadn't been bad. In fact, his mood had been so tranquil that Mai doubted she'd read him correctly. But then again, Naru must have been the one who put a blanket over her as she fell asleep...

And cue fire-engine blush.

Mai squirmed in the bedclothes, distracting herself with the feel of exceptionally soft sheets. She also rubbed at her gummy eyes with gloved hands – and froze. There was nothing else on her arms! Where had her sweater gone? Naru had put her on the couch... had Naru also put her to bed?

What if... _Naru_ had pulled her sweater off?

The blood seemed to slip from Mai's body as she considered this terrifying possibility. Not that she hadn't imagined Naru taking her shirt off in daydreams... but she was always, er, _participating_ while he did it. The lost blood pooling in Mai's toes rushed right back up to her face. _What was I thinking about again?_ Oh, right.

"Don't be ridiculous, Mai," she murmured, mentally slapping herself. _There is no way that Naru changed me for bed_, she told herself firmly. _The thought would never even cross his mind_.

The relief that swept her was laced with dejection. While she was glad that Naru hadn't gotten a glimpse of the scars, Mai couldn't help feeling a little depressed that Naru would probably never want to... She shook her head violently, shaking the silly thoughts away. "Who am I, _Yasu?_ Focus, Mai!"

And she did. _Luella or Madoka were both in the house last night, so one of them changed my clothes._ _M__ost likely__ Luella_, Mai guessed, absently fingering the strap of her nightdress.

Wait... _NIGHTDRESS?_

Mai threw off the covers. To her utter shock, she was wearing a deep blue nightgown that fell in waves of soft satin to her ankles. Little shiny beads and lace trimming formed a sweetheart neckline, and thin silky straps held the whole ensemble in place.

It was a beautiful nightgown – Mai had never worn anything so nice. But why was she wearing _this_, and not the tank top and pajama pants she'd left in the guest bureau? Mai stared down at her satin-covered body, mouth hanging open and mind on overdrive.

Loud voices disrupted her internal freak-out, and Mai instinctively yanked the bedcovers up to her chin. _It's Saturday_, she realized. The whole Davis family was downstairs.

Then Lin's deep voice wafted up the steps. "We should probably take her to SPR and run tests, just to make sure," he said slowly. "Are we certain there were no nightmares last night?"

"No screaming, no nightmares, and _no_, you will not bother her," Luella answered sternly. "She needs sleep to recuperate."

_They're talking about me_. Someone must have blabbed about the double-dream from the night before. And then Mai's blood ran cold once more – they were openly discussing her visions! What if Martin or Luella figured out that she dreamed of Gene's death?

"It's almost ten o'clock," Martin noted, sounding rather impatient. "Surely twelve hours is enough recuperative sleep?"

_Twelve hours, huh?_ Not a personal record, but her professor was right – that was a lot of sleep.

"It will be enough sleep when she wakes up," Luella replied uncompromisingly. "It's horrific enough that Mai regularly sees visions of others' deaths. I will not allow any of you to deny her the rest she _needs_ in order to recover from such awful experiences."

Mai's heart swelled with happiness upon hearing Luella defend her.

"My dear, we are trying to _help_ Taniyama," Martin argued. "You said the same thing about conducting research on Noll, but it was only _after_ extensive testing that we were able to control his powers. Taniyama needs similar assistance."

_Ha, not for this particular problem_. Mai knew exactly why she was plagued with visions of Gene's death, and researching it was not going to do anything. The only person who could end the visions was Gene himself, and apparently he wasn't quite up to the task yet.

"Of course Mai requires assistance," Naru spoke up.

_Traitor_, Mai thought viciously. Weren't she and Naru on the same page when it came to his parents and The Nightmare?

Then he continued. "However, this particular issue does not necessitate research."

Mai froze in the bed. _Huh?_

"What on earth do you mean, Noll?" Martin sounded equally thunderstruck.

"As I already know what is causing the visions, there is no need to research them. The problem has been explained very clearly, and is slowly disappearing over time." There was a pause. "I am also confident that this incident was a special circumstance... an _explicable_ circumstance. There were no similar problems last night, therefore there is no reason for an emergency trip to SPR." Naru sounded calm and resolute, and spoke in the decisive tone Mai had heard a hundred times on cases. She could picture him now, sitting rigidly straight and staring down his colleagues.

"What do you mean, 'special circumstance?'" Martin's voice rose in both volume and annoyance. "And _how_ can you be certain?"

"Because I understand Mai," Naru replied succinctly.

For some reason, this statement made Mai blush again.

It obviously threw Martin off, too. There was silence for a moment before the professor continued in a calmer voice. "Why are you being so _vague?_"

"Mai has requested my silence on the matter."

Another pause. "You do not normally respond to such... delicate requests," Martin said in a strange voice. When his son made no answer, the professor rallied again. "You should at _least_ have notes on the subject, Noll."

"I do."

"Alright, then. I'll need to review them."

"I'm sorry, Father. Client confidentiality." Naru's voice was cool and clipped. Mai imagined him sitting at the kitchen table, reading something and looking insouciant. She grinned in spite of herself.

"Client confi – Noll, are you out of your senses? Taniyama is _my_ student and employee, not your client!"

"I _am _the person in charge of her training and development at SPR," Naru reminded his adopted father, voice still casual.

"Yes, but _I_ am in charge of _you_. And I _insist_ that you inform me of any critical information pertaining to one of my employees!" Martin sounded almost angry now.

Mai knew it was time to go downstairs and back Naru up. She immediately eased out of bed and slipped to the back stairs.

"Not to mention... client confidentiality doesn't extend to your superiors at SPR, Noll." Madoka had apparently joined the party. "As you well know, it means that you aren't to disclose private details to anyone _outside_ of the company. Besides, you've always documented _all_ relevant information in the case reports. Why is this time different?"

_Hold on, why is Madoka on Martin's side?_ Mai sat down on the top step. Hadn't she and Madoka just agreed that knowing would be worse for Gene's adopted parents?

"I'm not sure what you are asking, Madoka." Naru's voice stayed soft, but Mai detected a new edge to it. Apparently she wasn't the only one confused about Madoka's motivation.

"I'm just wondering why you feel _overly_ responsible for keeping Mai's secrets," Madoka elucidated calmly.

Mai froze. _What kind of question is that?_ Maybe she misheard... she had to get closer. Summoning all of her stealthiness, Mai pressed herself against a wall and eased down enough stairs to see into the kitchen.

Madoka was at the window, while Naru, Lin, Luella, and Martin were all sitting around the table. As Mai had suspected, Naru was holding the morning paper between himself and his interrogators – but he was no longer acting like he didn't care. Now he was staring knives into Madoka.

"I don't believe I feel overly responsible for Mai," Naru hissed icily.

"I didn't say 'responsible for _Mai_,'" Madoka shot back. "I said _Mai's secrets_. And I guess that answers my question, although I don't think you really get the point."

"I seldom understand the psychobabble you choose to irritate me with," Naru noted in a cold voice. Mai thought she could hear ice cubes tinkling. _Time to go in!_

"_Noll_," Luella started... before the whole room was completely distracted by Mai Taniyama rocketing down the stairs, blue nightie billowing out behind her.

"Don't worry, guys, I'm fine!" the teen psychic crowed, trying to appear as carefree as possible.

Dead silence. Everyone was staring at Mai like she'd escaped from a crazy ward.

Madoka recovered first. "Mai-chan... what are you _wearing?_" she asked, a note of hilarity entering her tone. She pressed her lips together to keep from laughing.

"Huh?" Mai looked down – and gasped. She had been so intent on interrupting the fight that she'd forgotten she was in a (mysterious) nightie. "_Che!_" Mai immediately ducked back into the stairwell and tried to become one with the wall.

Quick footsteps approached, and Mai poked her head out just in time for Lin to hand her his black suit jacket. The young woman took it with a burning face, embarrassedly sliding her arms into the sleeves. The jacket could have wrapped around Mai twice, but despite how tall Lin was, the hem didn't reach her knees. There was still plenty of shiny blue fabric left to see as she edged back down the stairs.

Upon seeing a red-faced Mai creep into the room with Lin's jacket clutched around her throat, Madoka lost her internal battle and burst out laughing.

Providentially, this reaction broke what was left of the serious mood – and the main combatants deflated noticeably.

"Oh, Mai-chan," Madoka gasped between cackles, "I know you keep a set of emergency clothes upstairs, but do you think you need a sexy nightgown on standby, too?"

"No!" Mai yelled, her face flaming. "It's not mine! And I actually have NO idea how I wound up wearing it!"

Luella coughed to disguise a laugh. "Ah, I helped you into it last night, Mai dear. It's one of mine. I thought a nice feminine garment might scare off some irritatingly determined investigators from _harassing_ you while you _recovered_." Luella threw scathing glances at her husband and Lin for emphasis.

Both men avoided Mrs. Davis' gaze, and Mai was amused to discover that they were visibly embarrassed. The list of things that could perturb the nigh-imperturbable Lin was growing...

Then Mai's gaze traveled to the narcissist on the far side of the table. Naru merely crossed his arms and glared into space. Slightly disappointed by the lack of reaction, Mai slouched into the nearest chair and grabbed a fork to play with.

This spurred Luella into hostess mode. "Oh, Mai dear, you must be hungry. I'll just go and find James; he can whip up something for you. I don't think Madoka and Lin have eaten, either." Before Mai could say anything, Luella bustled off.

And Mai lost the only non-parapsychologist in the house.

"Taniyama," Martin said nonchalantly (though internally shaken by the trauma of a teen girl bounding into his kitchen while dressed in his wife's nightgown). "I hear that you've shared your unfortunate dream experiences with Noll?"

_The professor is good_, Mai thought. His tone was casual, and carried a subtly encouraging message – since she'd already shared with Naru, why not just tell everyone? But Mai had way too much experience evading the relentless Naru to be outfoxed by Martin. "Yes," she replied, coating her voice with a calm veneer. "It's really nothing to worry about. I already know what caused the problem, and it's okay now."

"But according to Takigawa, you've had never had the dream twice in one night before," Martin argued.

"Well, actually, I have." The first night she'd had The Nightmare, Mai had seen Gene's death over and over again, every time she fell back to sleep. She had still lived alone back then. Her neighbors hadn't been happy. "Bou-san just doesn't know that."

At this, Naru sent her a look. It was both concerned (he did care, after all) and demanding (he was definitely going to corner her later to discuss this development). Mai returned a look of reluctant acceptance.

Martin noticed this eye-conversation. "And you didn't know, either, Noll. So why doesn't Taniyama just tell us _all_ the whole story?"

"No," Mai and Naru said simultaneously.

The professor raised an eyebrow at their defensive tones.

"Professor, it's fine," Mai insisted. "I _really_ don't want to talk about it... and I'm glad that Naru respects that."

Martin's other eyebrow flew up. He opened his mouth to speak, but Madoka beat him to it.

"Well, that's understandable," she stated, studiously ignoring Martin's glare of betrayal. "Death visions are not an easy thing to deal with, much less talk about. And Noll's got enough experience to make this call. If he says they've got a handle on it, then they do."

Mai breathed a small sigh of relief. So Madoka _was_ on their side.

But Naru narrowed his eyes at his mentor – if she trusted his judgment, then what had all that 'responsibility for Mai' nonsense been about?

As if expecting his censure, Madoka turned to face her former student – and surreptitiously winked at him. Naru threw a nastier-than-normal glare back in order to cover his confusion.

"Mai dear," a timely Luella said from the doorway. "Why don't you go upstairs and change into some day clothes? By the time you come back, we'll have some breakfast for you."

The harried girl recognized the out, and flashed Luella a grateful grin as she ran for it.

_Victory by the skin of our teeth_, Naru thought as Mai whirled for the door. She lost her death grip on the jacket as she escaped – and much to his dismay, a brief image of pale skin and shimmery beading caught his attention... again.

When Mai had burst into the room wearing a nightie and long black gloves, Naru had stupidly thought that she was wearing a fancy evening dress. Then Madoka had called it a nightgown, and he remembered his mother's silly plan.

Against his better judgment, Naru had taken a closer look – and noticed the low cut of the beaded neckline and the lacy cutout on one side, both of which clearly marked the outfit as a nightgown. And Mai's panicked gasp only made that _more_ obvious, as her... chest sort of bounced upward with her sharp intake of breath. Abruptly, Naru remembered that Mai was two years older – and dimly noted the maturation was not restricted to internal development.

As these inordinately _base_ thoughts were making their way through Naru's head, Mai dove backwards onto the stairs and Lin practically threw his jacket at her. Thankfully the argument started up again, and Naru threw himself back into the conversation with a vengeance.

But now that there was nothing to distract him, Naru was forced to acknowledge an annoying preoccupation with the image of Mai racing into the room, dark blue silk trailing after her. Were Naru a more typical man, the explanation for such a fixation would be obvious... but he wasn't a typical man.

_Besides, Mai is in love with Gene_, his practical brain reminded him. There would be no upside to feelings of _that_ nature, and Oliver Davis did not waste his time on fruitless endeavors.

So it couldn't be _that_.

His_ momentary_ interest was likely due to a combination of the strange situation and the observable change in Mai's physique. Naru's irrefutable... _appreciation_ for the color of the gown was similarly explicable – he noticed because it was the same attractive hue as his own eyes.

Madoka stared at her one-time pupil, wondering what stupid mental explanation Noll was cooking up for his totally obvious fascination with Mai's accidental fashion show. Maybe she should help the socially-dense genius out. "Hmm, that nightgown was the same blue as your eyes, Noll," Madoka noted blandly.

Naru froze for a moment before rearranging his face into a disdainful sneer. "Is there a point to your statement?" he asked coldly.

"Ugggh, you're hopeless," the master ghost hunter groaned, slumping into Mai's vacated chair.

-0O0-

Wednesday morning saw Lin's first training session with Mai in two weeks.

His trip to China had been... eventful. Madoka's uncharacteristic freak-out had made Lin rethink the decision not to tell his nationalistic family about his Japanese girlfriend.

So he'd told them. It hadn't been pretty – Lin was now on the outs with most of his family, including his father. And he had _no_ idea how to tell Madoka that his family did not approve of their relationship.

The _onmyouji_ shook his thoughts away. Masters didn't let their personal troubles get in the way of professional ones.

The source of these professional troubles was standing a few feet away, moving through her regular _taolu_. Lin figured it was high time to ferret out the truth of Mai's maybe-secret glowing from the Reed case. He considered strategic possibilities. Madoka would probably try to worm the facts out of Mai stealthily, but conversationally; Noll would attempt to anger Mai into telling him; Martin would somehow incorporate the question into his regular academic inquiries.

But none of those options fit Lin's style. So he called a break, and Mai sank gratefully to the mats. Once Lin was sure she'd caught her breath, he cleared his throat loudly. He wanted her to be looking at him.

"Mai, does using your PK-MT sometimes produce a golden glow?" he asked directly, staring straight into her eyes.

His student blanched, mouth dropping open. So she _was_ trying to keep it a secret.

"Ah... what?"

Lin narrowed his eyes. "These are not your first lessons with an _onmyouji_," he noted severely. "I'm sure you're aware that lying to your _sensei_ is not tolerated."

"I didn't lie about it!" Mai denied plaintively.

"Hmm." This was true, technically. They'd never asked her about accompanying visual phenomena. "But you deliberately didn't mention it," he rejoined. "Would you care to explain, then?"

Her eyes clearly said 'no.' However, Mai knew better than to say so. "Yes, my PK-MT produces a glow," she admitted. "Not all the time, though – just when I use a lot of it quickly."

Lin nodded slowly. "Similar to Noll's, then," he surmised quietly, talking more to himself than to Mai.

But she heard him, anyway – and twitched visibly. Lin's eyes snapped to Mai's evasive ones. "Does that assessment bother you?" he asked carefully.

Mai's lips thinned as she thought up an acceptable response. "Thinking about Naru's powers... scares me." _In a multitude of ways_.

Lin's manner softened slightly. The only time that Mai had ever seen the glow of Noll's full powers, she'd also had to watch Noll fight for his life on the beach. "Have _you_ ever experienced such destructive consequences following the use of PK?" he asked curiously.

His student shook her head. "No, I don't have anywhere near that amount of power." Mai looked down again, marshaling the courage to ask a question that had been on her mind for ages. "But speaking of destruction... I worry about Naru." Her hands twisted in her lap. "I mean, what if... he uses too much power again?" _And_ w_hat if I'm not there when it happens? Or worse, what if it doesn't work?_

The_ onmyouji_ heaved a sigh. It wasn't like he didn't worry about such a thing himself. Noll was still headstrong as ever, unfortunately. And to complicate matters - Mai was back on their ghost hunting team. If she were to get into serious trouble on a case, Naru would likely show much less restraint than he should. After all, both of Noll's PK overuses in Japan had been prompted by Mai. "We're _all_ concerned about that, Taniyama-san."

The teen psychic bit her lip, eyes far away and nervous.

Lin felt the annoying compulsion to placate her. "But he hasn't done anything like that since Japan."

Mai's gaze swung back to Lin. "Are you implying that being in Japan made Naru less careful somehow?"

She'd put enough emphasis on the word _Japan_ for Lin to recognize that she was asking whether his resentment for Japan was showing. He raised an eyebrow at her boldness... but he also knew that Mai's insinuation was based on personal knowledge he'd given her. "Are you implying that I consider the nation of Japan to be at fault for Noll's poor judgment?" he asked dryly.

She colored and looked away. "I don't know, maybe."

"I wasn't," Lin assured her. "Noll _was_ noticeably more reckless as the head of Japan's SPR, but I considered that a byproduct of being away from his parents. Or a break in self-control stemming from mourning for his recently deceased twin." _Or__ he found such reckless behavior increasingly necessary to save a certain person_, Lin continued in his head. But he was not about to lay that responsibility on Mai. Noll's decisions regarding her were just that – Noll's decisions.

"Naru also probably felt more responsible for everyone's welfare, since he was in charge at Japan's SPR," Mai said judiciously. "So if something went wrong, he'd be more inclined to use his own abilities to fix the problem." Her lips twisted. "No matter how dangerous it was."

Lin raised an incredulous eyebrow, reminding himself to give Mai more credit. "Yes... I'm sure that had something to do with it."

"Do you think that's why Professor Davis makes Naru work under Madoka-san, instead of giving him his own team?" Mai asked suddenly, spearing Lin with a clear, demanding gaze.

Lin's other eyebrow joined the first. "I have always thought so." Mai was certainly more on-target than Lin was used to. Perhaps he should offer her an informational boon to encourage such behavior. "I also believe that Luella's desire to keep her only remaining son from a more dangerous position impacts Noll's career stagnancy."

His student nodded slowly, digesting this information. _Lin is being strangely open today..._

"Taniyama-san, I would like you to call enough PK-MT to produce a glow," her instructor said abruptly.

Mai froze for a moment. _No, don't look guilty!_ "O-okay, Lin-san," she agreed, quickly rising to her feet. _Maybe he won't notice_. To keep her nervousness at bay, Mai closed her eyes and pretended Lin wasn't there. Slowly, she rocked back onto her heels, raised her arms, and summoned the PK.

Lin watched carefully as Mai got into proper position. His _shiki_ buzzed around him, informing him that the energy of the room was shifting. _Excellent_. The _onmyouji_ quietly slid over to the dimmer controls by the door. Slowly so as not to alarm Mai, he slid the switch down. When the overhead lights had faded to about half-power, Lin moved back to his student. Instead of observing her from the other side of the mats (as per usual), Lin stood right next to Mai, staring unblinkingly at the black fabric which hid her forearms from the world.

He heard Mai take a deep breath. She flexed her fingers... and a powerful glow erupted just below her elbows. The golden-colored light burst right through the dark silk of the gloves. It spiraled down her arms before bathing her covered hands in a golden haze.

Lin suddenly felt prickly all over – all of the hair on his body was standing on end. He backed away a couple of steps, narrowing his eyes on the glow under the gloves. The glow's intensity stabilized, indicating that Mai's PK-MT had hit its maximum. "Alright, release the energy," Lin instructed calmly. He should have brought some testing equipment in for this session. He wanted to examine the difference between the amount of power she used for testing and the sudden, but large quantity she was harnessing at the moment. But that would have to wait until next ti –

"_Ai-ya!_" Mai yelled, pulling her arms back and then throwing them forward. A small wave of golden electricity flew across the room and broke heavily against the far wall. Teacher and student were so focused on the energy wave, neither noticed that three overhead lights shattered until broken glass started raining down from the ceiling.

The _onmyouji_ reacted first, yanking Mai out of harm's way. He dragged her across the room and opened the door – only to be greeted by the blare of the lab's alarm. Groaning, Lin brushed his electrified hair back from his face and waited for the inevitable. Mai looked okay, though obviously freaked out by all the noise.

All of a sudden, there were a whole bunch of people in the room. Everyone was talking at once, and between the gaggle of voices and the emergency alarm, no one's questions could actually be heard. Finally, someone thought to shut off the alarm.

An overwhelmed Mai removed her fingers from her ears just in time to hear Martin calling out over the crowd. "Out of the way, please!"

The throng of curious employees parted obediently, and Professor Davis rushed forward, followed closely by a tight-faced Naru and a wide-eyed Madoka. Mai noticed that Yasu didn't come over, but instead stuck to the wall like a barnacle. _Chicken_, she mouthed at him. He grinned as Martin skidded to a stop inches away.

"Is everything all right in here?" he asked rather breathlessly.

Triggering the emergency alert usually shut down the elevators, so Lin guessed that Martin had just run up two flights of stairs. "Yes, we're fine. We just had a little misunderstanding."

"Huh?" Mai was confused. "What misunderstanding? You told me to release the energy."

"I expected you to break your stance and allow the energy to dissipate slowly," Lin clarified.

"Ohhh," Mai said stupidly. Then she blushed. "I'm sorry." Then she took stock of the burned wall and the broken glass all over the floor, and whipped to face the professor. "I mean, I'm really, really sorry!"

But Martin was grinning widely, staring at the damage with fervent admiration. "Whatever for? That was obviously a fantastic showing, Taniyama!"

"But the wall... and the _lights..._"

"Are replaceable," Martin replied dismissively. "It certainly wouldn't be the first time. You are aware that this is a psychic research facility, yes?" Where Ayako would have been ready to kill Mai, the professor looked like he wanted to hug her.

"Of... of course, Professor." Mai couldn't help bowing. Whether Martin took it as acquiescence or apology was up to him.

"Are _you_ all right, Mai-chan?" Madoka asked solicitously, noticing the burgeoning tremors in the young psychic's hands.

Mai cringed as every eye in the room flew to her. "Um, yeah!" she lied brightly. She was actually getting very dizzy, and the room was shaking a little around her. She hadn't caused the room to shake, had she? That definitely took more power than she had...

"You need to sit down." Naru's voice cut through the haze. Mai's annoyingly blurry eyes focused on an approaching blob of block. She felt a warm arm wind itself around her waist – and energy began to zing through her all over again. Not sure whether it was romantic or psychic, Mai fought it back before the issue became a visible one. No need to help Lin out with his completely unexpected and _way_ too dangerous line of investigation.

Then her feet unhelpfully gave out beneath her, and Mai grabbed onto Naru for dear life. She heard him groan as her face smashed into his chest, but Naru's arm tightened around her waist and he managed to pull her upright.

Naru was not surprised that Mai was on the verge of passing out – that was certainly more PK power than he'd ever seen her release at one time.

He _was _surprised at the way his skin tingled at the warmth of Mai's body against him. Naru very much wanted to explain it away as a reaction to leftover PK power... but that would not explain the tingling's current epicenter. Naru's body buzzed hottest at the neck, where Mai's nose dug into him and her breath heated his skin. If PK-MT were causing the reaction, Naru's back and arm (upon which Mai's PK-infused arms rested) would be the focal points. "You're heavy," he muttered combatively, trying to dispel the completely stupid things his brain was telling him.

Mai wasn't physically able to indignantly remove herself from his person, but she managed to slur out, "And _you're_ a jerk, Naru."

The brief banter successfully reset Naru's internal workings to a more comfortable configuration, and he set about dragging Mai over to the lab's 'fainting couch.' (This nickname had been decided upon by Madoka and Gene, following Naru's several collapses onto it.) Naru tried to glare Lin into helping him with Mai, but his former assistant seemed entirely engrossed in studying the burn marks on the wall. And Naru knew better than to ask Madoka – she was no doubt enjoying his suffering. Most of the other employees were too afraid to come near him. Naru found their fright useful most days. Not so today.

Several agonizingly long moments later, Naru heaved Mai onto the long couch and backed away with alacrity. He was examining her for signs of further trauma when Madoka appeared at his side.

"Like I said before, you need to start working out, Noll," she giggled in his ear. "Get that stamina up."

"You're ridiculous," Naru spat.

"Not nearly as ridiculous as you are," she shot back. Then she shifted her attention to the semiconscious girl on the couch. "Mai-chan? How are you doing?"

"Okay," Mai murmured. "I could use... some electrolytes or something... though."

"Alright," Madoka assented warmly. "Greg!" she barked. "Go get Mai some Powerade!"

"Who's Greg?" Mai wheezed.

"My new gopher!" she replied brightly.

Professor Davis cleared his throat.

"I mean, my new_ intern_," Madoka amended with a wink.

Mai giggled, and tried to sit up. But the room spun sharply, and she fell back onto the cushions.

"Maybe you should take a little nap?" Yasuhara suggested.

_So he'd finally come to help?_ Mai glared blearily at her best friend. "I can't – the PK is trying to level out. Too twitchy to sleep."

"Level out?" Naru asked sharply. Had _he_ released a great deal of PK energy, he'd be unconscious by now. But... when _Gene_ released an overabundance of energy...

"Yeah," Mai muttered, a sudden tremor running through her arms as if to illustrate her point. She closed her eyes, breathing deeply. "_My body is used to a steady flow of energy – not a lot, but_ _some_." Mai was vaguely aware that she'd reverted to Japanese._ "And I just expended much more psychic strength than usual, so my powers are trying to pull more from somewhere. To replace it." _That's how it had been explained it to her, anyway_._

"That's... interesting," Naru said quietly, an icy chill sliding over his skin. That implied that Mai's PK was more receptive than offensive. Like she could be capable of receiving an outsider's PK energy.

Like Gene had been able to receive Naru's energy.

Madoka was very silent beside him, and Naru knew she was thinking along the same lines. "Don't even consider it," he muttered blackly.

"But Noll..."

"Even if it were possible – which I don't think it is – it would be far too dangerous." Naru gave his mentor his coldest glare. "I would not allow it."

"She's hurting now," Madoka whispered cajolingly. "She needs power. Why don't you toss her a little and see –"

"_Not a chance_," Naru hissed angrily. "And don't even _think_ about telling Father." Madoka met his gaze. "_Don't_," he said authoritatively, trying to stare her into submission.

"Naru?" Mai moaned. "Are you... alright? Your aura feels kinda _wild_."

"I'm not the one lying half-dead on a couch," he replied archly.

"I'm not half-dead, Narcissist," she scoffed, finally managing to sit up. "And you're not answering me."

"I don't have to answer you."

"Ugh, can't you just accept other people caring about you?" Mai griped weakly.

"Can't you refrain from asking stupid questions?"

"Can't we all back off and give Taniyama some breathing room?" Martin asked evenly from behind them. He came forward and pressed a Powerade into Mai's shaky hand, before firmly grasping the shoulders of his favorite student and his son. "_We_ are returning to work," he informed them. "Lin and Yasuhara, stay with her."

He ushered everyone else out of the room, making sure to push Madoka and Noll all the way to the elevator.

-0O0-

Yasuhara left almost immediately after the crowd. Knowing that Mai could use some food, he decided to ride down to Glen's Diner and order some lunch.

Mai _would_ have been grateful, had this action not left her alone with Lin. Her instructor was not a comfortable person to be around most of the time – but now that he'd unexpectedly gotten closer to figuring out the Big Mystery, Mai could barely contain her nerves.

"Taniyama-san, may I ask you something?" Lin requested rather formally.

The girl gave him a weird look. "Why so proper all of a sudden?"

"My question is personal," he replied uncomfortably.

Mai's still-recovering mind tried to guess what he wanted to know... and failed. She _did_ need food. "Um, okay. What is it?" She could only hope Lin didn't ask about something she had to keep quiet.

"What... was Tominaga-sama like in person?" Lin felt annoyingly like a teenager asking about a celebrity crush.

This feeling was not lessened by Mai's giggling like a schoolgirl. "Wow, I wasn't expecting that." Lin glared, and Mai hurried to continue. "He was very... peaceful. Peaceful and incredibly _connected_, if you know what I mean. And you probably do."

He did. "Noll tells me he wrote personalized sutras for the both of you." Lin tried not to sound envious.

It didn't work; Mai's giggling rose in pitch. "Yeah, well, Ayako pretty much came out and asked him to do it. She was worried about me and my control problems." Mai sighed. "I'd destroyed lots of stuff that week."

"Noll said that the problem was your visions, not the PK," Lin informed her, his gaze sharpening.

_Ugh, I'm an idiot!_ "The visions were the _main_ problem," Mai explained. "But I broke Ayako's favorite wine glasses the morning she decided to take me to Tominaga-sama, so I've always considered that incident the breaking point." She smiled in what she hoped was a disarming manner.

"Hmm," Lin replied unhelpfully.

Mai had no idea whether her answer had led him back off track. _Time for evasive maneuvers_. "Tominaga-sama kind of reminds me of you, Lin-san," she told him.

"Really?" Lin drawled disbelievingly. "I've heard he's quite chatty once you successfully locate him."

His student laughed again. "Only if there's practically no one else around," she replied. "But I meant that his aura was quite similar to yours – it was very _settled_, if that makes sense."

Lin nodded, trying not to feel pleased at the comparison. "The sutra for Noll, though – how did Tominaga-sama even think to make it?"

Mai's pallid face went bright red. "I, um, sort of asked him to." She squirmed... and her eyes locked on something behind Lin. "Oh, hey Yasu! You're back!"

Yasuhara definitely heard a 'thank goodness' embedded in that exclamation. "And I bring food," he noted, throwing Mai a curious look. She ignored it.

_Our tête-à-tête is obviously over_, Lin thought as Mai opened up a tin of pasta. He saw that her hands were trembling. "Do you need anything else, Taniyama-san?" he asked quietly. She didn't look nearly as bad as Noll would have after such a demonstration, but she was still sweating and shaking. Remorse reared its ugly head, and Lin's lips pressed together tightly. He should have been more cautious about asking Mai to use so much energy; it wasn't like he didn't know what _could_ have happened.

"Lin-san?" a voice broke through his heavy thoughts. Mai seemed more a bit more awake... and very concerned. "Are _you_ okay?"

It was times like this that Lin's perpetual disdain for the Japanese seemed rather forced. "Yes, Taniyama-san," he replied gruffly. "I'm alright."

She gave him a doubtful look before rolling her eyes. "You know, Lin-san, you should really start calling me Mai. I really think we've known each other long enough. And you _have_ to be over our little leg-injury-causing accident by now."

Lin smirked. "I suppose I'm over that, yes." Then the smile dropped. "However, during this last case, you forced me to make a rather _affectionate_ _exhibition_."

Mai flinched. "But I had to – it was f-for the exorcism!"

"And no one else could have taken that role?" he asked dryly.

His student regarded him incredulously. "Do you seriously think that _Naru_ would have done it?"

_She has a point there_, Lin was forced to admit. But... "To my knowledge, Yasuhara-san has no problem whatsoever with public affection."

"Are you propositioning me, Lin-san?" The flirt in question asked, a forkful of noodles frozen halfway to his mouth.

"Hardly," Lin drawled. "But surely you would have been a more sensible choice."

To his surprise, Mai grinned impishly. "Okay, you win, Lin-san – I'll make sure to have Yasu hugging on Madoka-san during all future exorcisms."

The _onmyouji_ threw her a glare so cold that Mai almost felt her soul freezing.

"As you appear to be fully recovered, I will leave you now, _Taniyama-san_," Lin intoned, voice menacing. Unsaid threat delivered, he stalked away.

Yasuhara watched Lin depart with a rather frightened look on his face. "Are you trying to get me _murdered_, Mai-chan? I don't want_ shiki_ attacking me in my sleep!"

"Guess I botched _that_ friendship attempt, huh?" Mai flopped back onto the pillows.

"Don't worry, Lin-san's your friend," Yasuhara assured her. "You just have to remember that he doesn't really have a sense of humor."

Mai snorted. "No wonder he and Naru get along so well."

"Speaking of getting along with Naru," Yasuhara started, grinning mischievously. "You haven't told me about your little talk with him the other night. It must have gone well, if you felt confident enough to wear a silky nightie to greet him the next morning."

"Remind me to kill Madoka-san later."

-0O0-

AN: So, have you guys ever done something like that? Embarrassed yourself with accidentally revealing clothing? I certainly have - just last week, I wore this square-necked shirt to work - and then I bent over in front of a mirror and realized that the front gaped open and you could see my bra and all the way down to my stomach. I had been flashing everyone all day:/


	28. Chapter 28

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Volume 12 would be out in English.**

**Chapter 28 – Drama, Dancing, and Drunk Wednesdays  
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-0O0-

A few days later, Mai Taniyama hid in her SPR cubicle and shook her head in wonder. _Lin Drama strikes again_. Of course, this time the drama included more than one Lin.

Lin's _father_ stood in the office bullpen, suitcase in hand, waiting for his son to come back from lunch. Mai had already introduced herself... and apparently, her _sensei_'s glare was inherited. Quailing a bit, Mai's assistant training came to the fore, and she tried to show Lin Senior into his son's office.

But he refused to follow, instead giving Mai a look that could have melted the flesh off her face. "Taniyama?" he asked finally, his accent heavy. "That is a Japanese name."

At that point, Mai ran for it. She ducked into her cubicle, turned her back on Lin Senior's piercing glare, and sent Yasu a panicked text. He needed to get his ass back to the office floor and handle this situation.

_Hold on... _Mai's eyes widened. _Why don't I just ask Martin to deal with it?_ Mai was up and inching toward the professor's office when Lin (Junior) stepped off the elevator... with Madoka. _Uh-oh_.

Mai raced toward them, hoping to intercept the _onmyouji_ before his father saw him with his girlfriend. Given the elder Lin's attitude about her nationality, Mai had a nasty suspicion about this sudden visit to England. "Over here!" Mai hissed, dragging both of them into a side hallway.

Naturally, Lin was annoyed at being accosted by his student. "Taniyama-san, what on Earth are you –"

"Your father's here!" Mai blurted out quickly.

Her _sensei_ paled. "Seriously?"

"Yes! He's outside your office!" Mai bit her lip. "I tried to get him to wait inside, and I was going to ask if he wanted a drink, but he…" she trailed off, not wanting to talk Lin Senior down to his son.

"I can imagine," Lin drawled.

"Your father?" Madoka asked interestedly. She immediately made to peek around the corner – but Mai _and_ Lin pulled her back. "What's wrong?" she asked, confused. "I mean, he's about to meet me, anyway, right?"

Lin looked pained. "Yes, I suppose he is."

Madoka looked between the grim Lin and the wincing Mai... and put two and two together. "You think he's going to hate me," she accused.

Mai had never seen Lin look quite so gormless. She tried to help. "Well, he already hates _me_, and all I did was introduce myself."

Madoka gave Mai a laser beam glare. "Is this a Japanese thing? Is that what you two are trying to say?"

"Unfortunately," Lin replied, clenching his fists.

"You _said _that you told your family we were dating!" Madoka hissed furiously.

"And I did."

"So then why would it be a problem...?" Then Madoka's face cleared. "Oh. I see. They disapprove of our relationship, and your father has actually come _all the way to England_ to remind you."

Lin said nothing.

His girlfriend sucked in a shaky breath, fighting for composure. "Go say hello," she said bracingly. "Maybe he's just here because he misses you. I won't turn a father-son greeting into a scene..."

The _onmyouji_ raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

"Yet," Madoka finished sharply. "You have ten minutes, Koujo. Then I'm coming in, whether you like it or not."

"I'm positive he at least wants to meet you," Lin noted.

"Well, doesn't _that_ sound promising," Madoka observed scathingly.

Lin opened his mouth – and thought better of it. He merely nodded to both women before exiting the hallway.

As Madoka stomped toward the break room, Mai's fingers were already dialing Luella's number. She was going to need help. But just as Mai put the phone to her ear, Naru and Professor Davis came around the corner.

"Are the lot of you playing hide and seek today?" Martin asked good-naturedly, his eyes on Madoka's quickly retreating form.

"Ah, no... we have a bit of a problem," Mai said hurriedly.

Naru exchanged a glance with his father. "What kind of _problem?_" he asked.

But Mai only held up a finger. "Oh, hi Luella!" she trilled nervously into the receiver. "Um, are you busy right now?"

Luella's husband and adopted son stared at Mai, both mystified.

"Well, it's just... Lin-san's _father_ is here," Mai announced, pulling on her shirt. "And well, remember that big fight about introducing Madoka-san? Well, it turns out that Lin-san told them about her while he was in China... and it didn't go so well. And now Lin Senior is _here_ at SPR, and we think he came to, like, publicly shame Lin-san for dating her. And Madoka-san... well, Madoka-san's not happy."

Martin and Naru groaned simultaneously. An unhappy Madoka made for a very unpleasant environment.

Mai listened hard for a moment. "No, they haven't actually met yet, but Lin-san wants her to go in there... _no_, I don't think it's going to go well. The guy already hates me for daring to say hello!"

Naru raised an eyebrow. It was rare for people to dislike Mai. But then again, Lin got his anti-Japan issues from his family. And while Lin's animosity had softened over years of extensive contact with Japanese people, his parents had no such ameliorating experiences.

"Yes, please come up here!" Mai begged. "I really think I'm going to need you, Luella. I can almost guarantee that I'll be keeping Madoka-san from throwing a high-speed camera at Lin Senior's head within the hour."

Martin closed his eyes in displeasure. Maybe he should send Madoka on a field expedition for a few days. In Ireland.

The lift across the way pinged, and Yasuhara stepped off. "So Lin's Japanese-hating dad is here?" he asked. "This is going to suuuuck."

"For once, I completely agree with you," Naru noted tonelessly.

"Oh, please!" Mai derided, hanging up the phone and glaring at the complainers. "It's not like any of _you_ are going to deal with it! You'll all go hide in your offices, and lock the doors!"

The three men looked at one another. "Yes, I suppose we will," Martin admitted.

"But I don't have an office!" Yasu whined. "Though I _could_ lock myself in the lab..."

"Cowards," Mai declared. Then she sighed. "Professor Davis, I'll need permission to be an unproductive employee for a bit. I reckon that Luella and I will be very busy with Lin Drama this afternoon."

"Keeping one of my best employees out of jail for assault is hardly unproductive, Taniyama," Martin mused. "Feel free to ignore your duties for as long as you like."

"_Lin Drama_," Naru reiterated in a dead voice.

"I know, right?" Mai rolled her eyes. "Who would have thought it was even possible?"

-0O0-

And _oh_, was it possible. As expected, the introduction had not gone well - and three hours later, Mai and Luella were still trying to calm the master ghost hunter down.

They were not succeeding; Madoka was in full angry-rant mode. "Funny how Lin-gong has _never_ come to see his son, even though Koujo's lived in England for effing _years_. But now that precious Lin Junior is dating _me_, he shows up!"

"Madoka-san –" Mai started.

"And to do _what?_" the three-quarters hysterical woman continued. "Make sure I know he doesn't think I'm good enough for Koujo?!" She paced the floor of Mai's living room, refusing to sit or drink her tea.

"Madoka," Luella tried. "I'm sure that –"

"I mean, come on!" Madoka cried. "I have a doctorate from one of the best universities in the world. I'm from a good family, I'm decent-looking, and I'm technically his son's _boss!_ What does he want, a duchess?"

"Somebody not Japanese," Mai muttered sadly.

"Oh, riiiiiight!" Madoka threw her arms up. "It's not even _me_ personally – it's just our entire _race_ that's unacceptable!"

Luella sighed.

"Which is _bollocks_," Madoka hissed furiously. "I _know_ Japan did awful things during their campaign in China – but I wasn't even _born_ then! It's ridiculous to assign responsibility to me! That would be like blaming the current owners of a haunted residence for problems caused by hundred-year-old spirits!"

Mai couldn't help but agree. She also wondered if Madoka had said any of this to Lin or his father.

"You know," Luella cut in loudly, "Instead of going to the office tomorrow, I think we should go out."

The master ghost hunter was briefly diverted by this non-sequitur suggestion. "Like go sightseeing, or something?"

"Yes, that's good idea," Mai agreed fervently, trying to pull the conversation away from the Lins. "But where will we go... and how will we get out of work?"

Luella raised an eyebrow. "Didn't Martin tell you to take as much time as you needed?"

"Yes, but I think that was just for _today_," Mai reasoned.

Mrs. Davis smirked in a very Naru-like way. "We will simply cite a hostile working environment."

"Er, I don't think that argument will work," Mai laughed. "We show up to hauntings almost_ hoping_ for a hostile work environment."

"Lin-gong's picture might be next to 'hostile' in the dictionary," Madoka murmured as she slumped onto the couch.

Mai took in her unusually dejected expression. "We'll just tell the professor we need a shared personal day."

-0O0-

Typically, Mai waltzed into the Davis kitchen as if it were her own.

So as Naru watched her edge forward like she was tiptoeing around a landmine, he had to bite back a smile. "The Lins aren't here yet," he informed her knowingly.

Mai relaxed instantly. "Thank goodness," she breathed, falling against a wall. "I'm just here to collect your mother. Hopefully we'll be out of here before Junior _or_ Senior arrives."

Naru raised an eyebrow. "Collect my mother for what?"

"Ah, Miss Mai," James greeted as he came down the back stairs. "Mrs. Davis asked me to tell you she'll be down shortly." The butler looked a bit unsure for a moment before adding, "She also requested that I ascertain whether Miss Madoka is 'feeling well enough' today."

Mai giggled. "Yes, she's okay. She's waiting in the car with Yasu." Her eyes twinkled. "She'll be fine to drive, so you're off the hook."

Naru was puzzled. And slightly annoyed at Mai's heretofore unnoticed familiarity with James. "Fine to drive _where?_" he asked rather sharply.

At that moment, a broody-looking Lin entered the kitchen, followed by his grim father. Mai froze and inched towards the far wall.

_Coward_, Naru mouthed, repeating Mai's epithet for him from the day before.

She stuck her tongue out... while striving to hide behind the refrigerator. Naru smirked.

Lin followed Oliver's eye-line and found his student cowering in the corner. "Taniyama-san," he greeted her. She jerked as if struck, and Lin sighed internally.

"Um, hello, Lin-san!" Mai said brightly. "And... good morning, Lin-gong."

The frightening man only nodded slightly. Mai swallowed hard.

Lin jumped into the breach. "Were you all waiting on our arrival?" he wondered curiously. During the huge fight they'd had on the phone, Madoka had said something about not going to work today. Lin had assumed that Madoka would also bypass the usual Tuesday breakfast at the Davis house.

And she had, technically – Madoka was eating in her car instead of at the table. Lin had attempted to get her attention as he walked up the drive, but she just flipped around in her seat and addressed Yasuhara.

Mai correctly identified what Lin was really asking. "We aren't going to the office today," she informed him. "Since Yasu and I are starting school next week, Luella thought it might be a good idea to head up to Cambridge for a look around. We've never been, you see, so Madoka's going to show us around." She noticed that Lin Senior was glaring at her again. Mai wasn't sure whether he was annoyed because she was Japanese, or annoyed because she'd brought Madoka into the conversation.

Mai _was_ sure, however, that enough was enough. "We figured that Madoka-san was a good choice for guide," she continued archly. "Not only did she graduate from Cambridge with her doctorate, she is by far one of the most amiable and efficient people I have ever had the good fortune to be acquainted with." And with that, Mai turned on her heel and walked out.

She felt a brief moment of terror over reprimanding Lin's scary father... but it was quickly replaced by glee as she remembered the shock on his face. Lin had looked similarly nonplussed.

Naru, on the other hand, had been fighting a smile. Mai bit her lip excitedly, hoping that she hadn't imagined the proud gleam in his eyes.

-0O0-

Another Testing Day was over, but Mai was the exact opposite of tired. She hadn't trained with Lin this morning, and the balance of her _qi_ seemed upset by the diminished usage of PK-MT. The overexcited muscles in her hand twitched as she waved goodnight to Martin and Luella.

Her _onmyouji_ master was away on an unexpected vacation. Lin Senior had expressed a desire to see more of England, and his son had obliged. They were currently in Wiltshire, visiting Stonehenge and Old Sarum. Mai supposed it made sense that men from a family of traditional Chinese sorcerers would want to visit places that were closely related to ancient magic.

And apparently, this ill-timed adventure was Mai's fault – Lin Senior had gotten the idea from her speech about sightseeing in Cambridge. Since Madoka was super-pissed that Lin was allowing his father to lead him around by the nose, Mai didn't know whether to be chagrined at having inadvertently caused another drama... or pleased that Lin Senior had followed her lead.

Across the room, Madoka watched Mai shift restlessly in her chair. "Er, Mai-chan – are you alright? You're sorta... _twitchy_ this evening." Was she getting vision warnings?

"Oh, I'm fine." Mai smiled sheepishly. "Every once in a while, I get like this after testing. I didn't have morning training with Lin-san today, so my_ qi_ is sort of confused." Madoka's eyes narrowed at the mention of Lin, and Mai hurried to keep talking. "When I use too much power, I get tired; but I don't use _enough_ power, the excess energy kinda rolls through me all night." Mai's arms shook briefly. "It's annoying."

Naru studied Mai for a moment – she was indeed rather 'twitchy.' "Why don't you practice PK skills outside, then?" he asked. "You should be able to expel the energy by using it."

Mai looked interested at this prospect, and turned to her head researcher... only to find Yasu grinning like the proverbial cat that ate the canary. _Uh-oh_. That look never boded well.

"While that's a fine idea..." Yasuhara began, glasses flashing, "I reckon that we've been doing nothing _but_ practicing with your PK skills, working at SPR, and preparing for classes."

"Okay... so?" Mai asked (despite knowing it was a mistake to encourage him).

"_So..._ I think we should put your excess energy to more _recreational_ use, Mai-chan," Yasuhara finished, grinning even wider.

And then Mai realized where he was going with this. "No way," she replied with finality, locking eyes with her assistant.

Naru and Madoka exchanged confused looks.

"Oh, come on, Mai-chan!" Yasuhara whined. "There are only a few days left of vacation! This is probably the only chance we'll get until term ends!"

"You mean the only chance _you'll_ get," Mai retorted testily. "I am perfectly fine without resorting to_ that_."

"But Mai-chaaan! We haven't done Drunk Wednesday in _months__!_"

Naru froze.

Madoka choked on her tea. "Drunk... Wednesday?" she repeated faintly.

"Ignore him," Mai told her in a hard voice. "He's obviously gone crazy."

"I have not! Come on, Mai-chan, let's do Drunk Wednesday tonight!"

"What exactly _is_ a 'Drunk Wednesday?'" Madoka asked.

Mai groaned. There would be no stopping Yasuhara now.

"Well, as you've noticed," her best friend began gleefully, "Mai-chan sometimes finds herself rather twitchy after testing. She also has trouble sleeping when she's like this. One night, Bou-san woke up at four in the morning to find Mai-chan wide awake and pacing in her bedroom like a crazy person. So in true rock musician style, he decided to make use of drugs!"

"Sleeping pills?" Naru guessed.

"Alcohol," Yasuhara corrected merrily. "Two glasses of Suntory Hibiki, and she was out like a light."

Mai rolled her eyes. That stuff was nasty.

"Now, as you know, I really like going to clubs – and so does Mai-chan. We go for different _reasons_, but... anyway." Yasuhara grinned. "Bou-san's use of alcohol gave me an idea. The next time Mai got restless, we all went clubbing! You see, Mai-chan and Ayako love dancing – and I figured that would work out Mai-chan's muscle tension."

"And Bou-san naturally enjoys the club scene," Mai cut in, smiling a little. "He introduced us to our favorite one."

"Eventually, Ayako and I managed to get Mai-chan to drink a bit," Yasuhara continued. "We discovered that the combination of dancing and alcohol knocked out Mai's 'twitchiness' _and_ enabled her to get some sleep." Yasu waggled his eyebrows. "And thus began the thrilling tradition of Drunk Wednesdays."

"Ayako and Bou-san are actually down with that?" Madoka asked, now grinning herself.

"Mostly," Yasuhara replied airily. "Bou-san gets a _little_ uppity about the drinking – but only when he and Ayako aren't with us. Sometimes they have to do band gigs and doctor stuff. But we've always made it home alive and relatively unscathed." His glasses flashed. "Even when Mai-chan gets totally trashed."

"That only happened a couple of times!" Mai cried, blushing. "And mostly because _you_ slipped me extra-strong drinks!"

"Listen to you, sounding all disapproving," Yasuhara mocked. "If I remember correctly, you usually have a good time. And I _definitely_ remember those nights better than you do." He winked at Madoka. "Mai-chan's a real lightweight."

The lightweight in question narrowed her eyes, terribly aware of her love interest staring holes into the side of her face. "Shut it, Yasu."

But he was not to be deterred tonight. "Do you recall that extra-awesome night, Mai-chan? You know, when I had to carry you home in my arms?" Yasuhara chanced a quick look at Naru. He'd brought up this particular incident to inspire some jealousy in the emotionally-constipated ghost hunter. _Time to poke the black-clothed beast some more..._ "Yes," Yasu continued in a wistful tone, "I caringly lifted you like a princess, and bore your mostly-unconscious body all the way back to Bou-san's apartment..."

"You threw me over your shoulder like a sack of rice, and carried me to Bou-san's car," Mai corrected archly. "After all, you had to keep an arm free to molest the future one-night-stand you were making out with."

Yasuhara snorted. "So you _do_ remember. Yes, Yuka-chan was a lovely one. Too bad I had to abandon her at the club that night, as you chose a very inopportune moment to throw up all over the sidewalk."

Mai tossed a throw pillow at him. "_Of course_ I threw up. I was feeling sick _before_ you threw off my center of gravity by _hauling_ me over your shoulder! Then I got to hang upside-down with your bony shoulder digging into my stomach." She was about to shut the conversation down... when she realized that Madoka giggling for the first time since Lin Senior arrived. Mai decided to keep talking. "And when I finally get down, I'm treated to the revolting sight of my best friend going for second base less than a foot away."

Madoka actually spat out her tea, laughing raucously. Yasuhara flipped her a napkin.

"Besides, Yasu," Mai continued, "It's not like you didn't have another chance with Yuka-chan. Bou-san told me that you guys exchanged phone numbers before we left." Her eyes glittered. "Apparently, she pulled her phone right out of her cleavage and typed in your info."

Naru closed his eyes in horror. Listening to Mai discuss Yasuhara's debauchery with such aplomb was undeniably distressing. He should never have left Japan_._

"And it was the sexiest thing she did all night," Yasuhara asserted seriously. "_You_ should start storing your phone in your cleavage, Mai-chan. And you can practice tonight! It probably takes a few tries to get it to stay put between your –"

"I have had enough of this thoroughly pointless conversation," Naru snapped, beyond frustrated. His thoughts were see-sawing between irritation with Yasuhara's banality... and an unlooked-for mental vision of Mai pulling a cell phone from her cleavage. What was even _more_ disturbing was that Naru imagined not Mai's purple phone, but rather his own sleek black cell phone nestled between... _all-thoughts-full-stop_. What was _with_ him lately?

Naru focused very hard on a photo of supernaturally-damaged furniture. "I am sitting here to look at research material for our next case, not listen to the two of you reminisce about Bacchanalian escapades," he stated coldly.

His tone instantly got Mai's back up. "_Escapades?_ So what if Yasu and I actually do things like go to clubs, or drink a little every now and again? It's genuinely therapeutic for my PK issues! Why do you have to make it sound like something awful, Narcissist?"

"I don't know, Mai-chan, I like the sound of that," Yasuhara chimed in. "I vote we officially change 'Drunk Wednesdays' to 'Bacchanalian Wednesdays.' Better yet, 'Bacchanalian Escapade Wednesdays.' That might be too long, though – I can't imagine saying it all correctly once drunk. How would we toast?"

"Ugh, _both_ of you are ridiculous!" Mai yelled. "Naru, get a grip; Yasu, shut up. I'll just go back to the apartment and exercise, or something."

"You'll probably klutz out if you exercise while angry, though. Do you really want to end up in the hospital again?" Yasu asked, glancing at Big Boss again. He was staring angry holes into a police report. Maybe the jealousy-enticement was working...

And Yasu got another brilliant idea.

Though he generally respected Lin's opinions, Yasuhara did not feel the 'leave Naru and Mai alone, and it will work out' theory was getting them anywhere. And Lin wasn't exactly doing well with his _own_ relationship at the moment – was he really qualified to give romantic advice? Besides, Yasu preferred to take an active role in achieving his desired ends. _And they all sort of know about Avery now, so why not?_ "You've been such a spoilsport lately, Mai-chan," Yasuhara started sadly. "You used to_ like_ going dancing."

"I _still_ like going dancing!" she claimed.

"Then why haven't we gone in so long?" Yasu shot back. Mai fell silent, but Yasuhara didn't need her to answer. He already knew it was because Mai's relationship with Avery had begun and ended at a club. "I guess... you're still not over That Person." Yasuhara's face was serious, but he grinned inwardly as Naru's eyes snapped up from his reading to fix unblinkingly on Mai.

Who in turn gaped at Yasuhara, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. "_What?!_" she finally screeched.

"Well, your aversion to clubs – and going out in general – started right after you broke up with That Person," Yasuhara reasoned. "I can only imagine your continued lack of enthusiasm stems from lasting breakup depression."

Dark blue eyes studied Mai from across the room. Naru had been operating under the assumption that Mai was 'with' Gene. But 'That Person' couldn't be Gene. There was the obvious physical issue – a ghost couldn't have been Mai's date to a wedding. And as for the present conversation – Yasuhara _was_ blunt, but he wouldn't be so cavalier about a deceased person so dear to everyone in the room.

Naru stared out the window, trying to make sense of all this information. Was it possible that they _weren't _together? Mai and Gene had both insisted _ad nauseum_ that they only hid their communication to keep Gene's position as 'spirit guide' a secret...

_Did my brother tell Mai to move on? _It was something Gene would do; he wouldn't want Mai to spend her life alone, pining for him. Naru's heart twisted painfully. Swallowing a lump in his throat, he tuned back in to the argument happening in front of him.

"I am _not_ still hung up on A–" Mai caught herself just in time. "– on That Person!" she finished. "I just don't want to show up hung over at SPR tomorrow!"

"We have off on Thursdays," Yasuhara reminded her smugly.

Mai pursed her lips, wondering what to do. Yasuhara was sort of right; she hadn't felt like going out clubbing in Japan (That Person's favorite activity) after their relationship's messy end.

But here in England, Mai's hang-up was a bit different. Mai was a happy, but _sloppy_ drunk – and she tended to throw up. She did _not_ want to be sick in front of the great Oliver Davis.

Not to mention, Mai's loose tongue only became looser under the influence. She might wind up doing something really stupid... like telling Naru she loved him. Or telling Naru he was stuck with her for good if he ever wanted to use his powers again.

Neither option sounded like a good idea to Mai.

"You know,_ I'd_ like to go out," Madoka interjected. She thumbed her cell phone; three missed calls from Lin. Strike that last, she _needed_ to go out. "Mai-chan, you and I can stay on the dance floor and work out your twitches, and Yasu can flirt it up with the ladies." Madoka's eyes twinkled. "Everybody's happy."

Mai's mood lightened at this suggestion. That sounded... pretty fun. And having Madoka with them definitely solved one problem. Yasuhara (usually) stayed semi-sober and single on Drunk Wednesdays, in order to watch over Mai. And though she was appreciative, Mai felt guilty over keeping Yasuhara glued to her side. (Though she usually rationalized it as saving some poor, unsuspecting girl from future heartbreak).

This time, Madoka could stand guard while Yasu impressed people with his accent and smooth-talking. After all, Madoka didn't need to hunt up a date... hopefully. Despite the current Lin Drama, she and the _onmyouji_ had something serious going on. Mai didn't think Madoka was angry enough to jeopardize that. Maybe she could interrogate the master ghost hunter about it once everyone had something to drink... "Yeah, okay," Mai heard herself say. "Let's go."

Madoka smiled winningly.

Yasuhara fist-pumped.

And Naru continued reading his case file, trying not to give away that he was actually wondering over the identity of Mai's ex-boyfriend._ So his name started_ _with an A, which meant he definitely wasn't Gene_. Naru wasn't quite sure how this affected his theory. He had nearly decided to scan SPR's list of known Japanese spiritualists for 'A' names... until he became disgusted with the triviality of his thoughts. Naru was almost glad that Mai was leaving for the night – she was pulling his thoughts away from the supernatural with increasing regularity.

"We should go home and change, Mai-chan," Yasuhara suggested. They needed to get going before Mai changed her mind.

"I'll drive you to your apartment, and then I'll go get myself dressed. And I'll call a taxi," the master ghost hunter decided. "That way I can drink a little, too – it's been that kind of week." Maybe Madoka should text Lin that she was going drinking with Yasuhara - that ought to freak her boyfriend out nicely.

Then again, Madoka would feel bad if Yasu wound up injured by the voodoo doll Koujo would make of him... "We should probably come back to this neighborhood," she said. "There's a really great club a couple of blocks from here."

"Sounds good," Mai enthused. She was starting to think this was a really good idea. Her still-jangling muscles agreed. Besides, as long as Mai didn't end up drunk in front of Naru, there was nothing to worry about...

"Ooh, and we can pick you up on the way, Noll!" Madoka cried excitedly.

Mai promptly froze in terror... and practically collapsed in relief when Naru scoffed and fixed his mentor with an incredulous stare.

"You must be joking. I've hours of work to do," he said darkly. "Though even if I didn't, I certainly wouldn't waste my time at a _club_." Naru spat the last word as if it were something nasty he'd accidentally eaten.

Madoka rolled her eyes. "Fine, be a killjoy." She flounced toward the front hall. "Let's get moving, then. Mai-chan's got a lot of energy to dance out, and I've got to text Koujo some pictures of me with hot guys on the dance floor. See what he makes of _that_."

"Make sure at least one of the guys is Japanese," Yasuhara advised. "But not me. I want to live."

Mai couldn't help but giggle as she followed the now-positively-effervescent Madoka Mori out the door.

-0O0-

Rainbow spotlights spun in continuous erratic circles, sliding across Mai's face and reflecting off of her sparkly gloves. She could feel the tension leaving her body with every roll of her hips, and beamed at Madoka and Yasuhara as they whirled and grooved beside her.

Mai was also tipsy enough to be transfixed by the way the glitter on her gloves caught the light. Madoka had bought them for her (along with several other new pairs), and labeled them 'night on the town' gloves. They were black, like most of her scar-covers, but with silver glitter and small jewel studs scattered across the fabric.

As the song ended, Yasu used Mai's distraction to filch the empty glass from her hand. He headed for the bar, and Mai rolled her eyes. She just knew that refill was going to be stronger than its predecessor. And Mai was already pretty drunk – she'd clumsily tripped into Madoka at least twice.

Speaking of Madoka... "_Ne_, _Madoka-san!_" Mai yelled in Japanese.

The master ghost hunter grinned. Just like how Mai tended to revert back to her native tongue when tired, drinking seemed to have a similar effect. Two shots and a glass of strawberry vodka lemonade resulted in a slurry mix of English and Japanese. Good thing Madoka spoke both fluently. "Mai-chan, why don't you just call me Madoka? Aren't we close enough for that?"

"But you still call me Mai-_chan!_"

"That's just because you're so cute. Definitely a Mai-_chan_."

Mai giggled adorably, proving Madoka's point. "_Daijoubu!_ _Ne_, _Madoka?_"

"_Hai_, _Mai-chan?_" Madoka asked with a grin.

"How serious are you and Lin-san?"

Madoka raised an eyebrow. Alcohol made Mai braver. "Well... we're seeing each other."

"Oh, come on, Madoka! I know that already!" Mai had seen it the first time Madoka walked through the door of SPR Japan... and Lin voluntarily came out of his office and _smiled_. "I meant that it seems pretty serious! You wouldn't be so mad about the family thing if you weren't planning on being a _part_ of it someday!"

_Definitely braver with the alcohol_, Madoka affirmed. Next time, she would _force_ Noll along. Maybe Mai would unthinkingly kiss him in a great show of alcohol-induced daring, and all this dancing around each other would be over.

"Hmm," Madoka replied aloud, eyes sparkling. "Your questioning techniques need a little finesse, Mai-chan. But since you're obligingly calling me Madoka, I'll answer." She grinned at the rapt expression in Mai's eyes. "I rather _hope_ it's getting serious – I've been trying to pin that man down for years!"

Mai burst out laughing. "Yeah, I can see the problem there! Lin-san is so... _Lin-san_." There really wasn't a better way to describe it.

Madoka snorted. "Indeed. The only person more inept with interpersonal relationships than Koujo is Noll."

"Ha!" Mai barked. "Isn't that the truth! _Mou_, I don't know if anyone on Earth could pin Naru down! He probably thinks relationships are an inex... inexpli... _inexplicable_ nuisance." Damn tricky English.

"I'd say you're about right," Madoka agreed. It _did_ sound like something Noll would say. However... "I would imagine that _someone_ could pin him down." She stared hard at Mai.

"I don't know," Mai shook her head, uncomprehending. "Masako-chan couldn't even get him with blackmail. _That was pretty hard-core_," she finished in Japanese.

"Yes, but Noll doesn't really respond well to coercion. It makes him spiteful. And besides, he wasn't interested in Hara-san."

"Naru isn't interested in _anyone!_" Mai countered. "I... er, pay pretty close attention," she admitted. "Wouldn't his behavior be different towards someone he liked? I'm sure I would have noticed that..."

Madoka's meaningful stare morphed into a look of dead-eyed disbelief. _Different, huh? Like how Noll argues with you, ignores work for you, arranges presents for you, rescues you from danger, stares at you heatedly whenever he thinks no one's looking, and openly cares about your well-being? Wake up, Mai!_ Out loud, Madoka said, "I reckon his behavior _would_ be 'different.' But what if it's already there?" Madoka hinted. "And you're just missing it?"

Unexpectedly, Mai wilted. "Do you think he likes someone, then?" she asked defeatedly. "Maybe some really smart, talented, pretty girl at SPR... I guess someone like that would be able to tackle Naru."

"_You_ could tackle Noll," Madoka said bluntly. Mai was obviously too drunk to understand her hints. "Tackle him right to the wall and kiss him. That would probably work."

Mai turned ferociously red. "WHAT?! Ma-Madoka, I don't think that Naru would appreciate that..."

_Oh, yes he would, _Madoka insisted inwardly._ And he would probably show you he appreciated it by crushing you into his love-starved arms._

Then again, Noll was as oblivious as Mai regarding this matter, so maybe he'd freak out... for a couple of seconds, before he instinctively crushed Mai into his love-starved arms. Madoka grinned. "You never know until you try, Mai-chan," she sang.

Mai looked unaccountably sad. "But I did try."

_Wha-what?_ Madoka was so surprised she stopped dancing. "You... did?"

Mai nodded miserably and mumbled something. Wanting _very_ much to hear what she had to say, Madoka grabbed Mai's arm and dragged her off the dance floor. She waved the returning Yasuhara away, and pulled Mai towards the quiet staff bathroom.

-0O0-

"Madoka, I don't think we're allowed in here..." Mai glanced around the deserted ladies' room.

"Nonsense, I know the owner," Madoka replied dismissively. "Now, explain – what exactly did you try?"

"Well, I..." Mai's expression became pained. "I confessed to Naru."

"_When?_" Madoka asked, mystified. They had all been watching so closely for any change in the dynamic...

"Before he left Japan," Mai whispered. "The night before, actually... I told him that I loved him... and he rejected me."

Madoka's eyes were like saucers. How could Noll be so stupid? Both she and Lin agreed that Noll's deep feelings for Mai were already in place by the time they shut down SPR Japan. Noll _was_ an idiot scientist, but Mai's confession should have sparked the necessary neurons in his emotional center and caused him to question his own feelings. Which were there. "What did he say?" Madoka wondered aloud.

Mai sniffled. "He told me... that I loved Gene."

"WHAAAT?"

"Well," the crying psychic continued, "He knew that Gene was the one I'd seen in my dreams, with the nice smile and the caring attitude. So Naru figured that Gene was the one I loved."

Madoka was floored. "And... and he just flat-out..."

"No," Mai said, shaking her head. "Naru asked me, 'Do you love me or Gene?' But I don't think he was really asking. He had already decided in his head."

And at last, Madoka understood the problem. So _this_ was why Noll hadn't yet realized he loved Mai. He had shut down that possibility because he thought Mai loved Gene.

"He was really very nice about it," Mai informed Madoka, voice quavering. "Naru even tried to comfort me – seeing as he thought I loved a dead person. He said I'd see Gene in a hundred years. It must have been rough for him to talk about; Naru had just f-found his b-body." She started crying again, this time with grief.

For once, Madoka did not know what to say. So she gathered Mai into a hug, and considered the information she'd been provided. Mai was right about one thing – Noll had been (comparatively) gentle and caring. "Is that when Oliver gave you the photo?" she finally asked. Madoka had seen it on Mai's dresser earlier that night when they were debating wardrobe choices; that photo was taken years before Mai met either twin, and Madoka had been surprised to find it in her possession.

"The one of him and Gene? _Hai_." Mai smiled through her tears. "I love that photo. Both of them look so happy, and Naru's not in mourning..." She started crying again. She was too overwhelmed to stop.

Madoka hugged Mai closer, not caring that the half-drunk teen was soaking her silk blouse. "I know, Mai-chan. It's awful."

"Poor Naru," Mai sobbed. "Poor Gene. And I don't know how Luella deals..."

"She will always mourn," Madoka said softly. "We all will. But... Gene would definitely not want us to wallow in sorrow forever. He'd hate all this crying."

Mai made a sound of agreement. "_You're right about that_," she murmured in Japanese. "Gene feels helpless, knowing that we all grieve for him. I mean, I still see Gene pretty regularly, and here I am crying like an idiot."

Madoka heaved a sigh. "You're not just crying over Gene, Mai. You're crying over everybody's grief for him." She pursed her lips. "And you're also crying over Noll, your confession, and his undoubtedly caring – but mistaken – response."

"Mistaken..." Mai repeated. "So Madoka... you know it's Naru that I want?" Her teary eyes were huge.

"Of course, Mai-chan." Madoka rolled her eyes. "Every time you guys are in a room together, it's totally obvious. What kind of investigator do you take me for?" She was relieved to hear Mai giggle.

"A _great_ investigator," Mai assured her. "Do you think... _Naru_ knows?"

Madoka shook her head. "Definitely not," she replied firmly. _If he did, you two would be together by now. _Well, probably – Noll _was_ pretty emotionally incompetent.

Mai didn't know whether to feel depressed or relieved at this assertion. On one hand, she wanted Naru to know that it was him she loved... but she also didn't want to screw anything up. Mai didn't want to lose him with a declaration of unwanted feelings.

And that would be bad for both of them, given the circumstances of the transfer.

"Don't worry, Mai-chan," Madoka soothed, squeezing her shoulder. "Noll's an idiot scientist, but it'll all work out eventually. I estimate that you two will be making adorable psychic babies by the end of your degree program." She smiled wickedly.

"_Madoka!_" Mai blushed furiously at the thought of having Naru's babies. Her heart raced at the mental image of herself and Naru together, with a family of their own... Mai swooned. Emotionally _and _physically.

Luckily, Madoka caught her as she fell forwards. "Steady now, Mai-chan," she laughed.

Yasuhara picked that moment to poke his head into the bathroom. "Are you guys done having your girly-moment yet? Mai's double-strong lemonade isn't going to drink itself."

Madoka shifted the woozy girl and sighed. "I think she's had enough for one night. Tell you what – I'll drink that shot, and you help me bundle her into a taxi."

Yasuhara grinned mischievously. "Should we take her back to the Davis house and drop her in Naru's lap? Say we rescued her from a hot-but-aggressive guy, and that Mai begged to leave the club and return to Naru's care? She'll be adorable_ and_ in need of assistance; Big Boss won't be able to resist."

Madoka giggled, but shook her head. "As entertaining as that sounds, Mai's already been through the emotional wringer tonight – my fault. Besides," she examined Mai's half-closed eyes and dazed expression, "Mai-chan's pretty gone right now... and I'm sure she'd want to remember Noll taking tender care of her."

Yasuhara sighed. "This is going to take forever, isn't it?" He handed Madoka the drink.

"Nah," Madoka replied brightly. "Mai's ready and Noll's getting closer. They'll be together sooner than you think." She sipped at the strawberry vodka lemonade.

"Hopefully before her next birthday," Yasuhara specified. "That way, she'll have lost her virginity by twenty. I feel like that matters."

Madoka spat out a mouthful of alcohol. "She turns twenty next July! Even if they're together by then, there's no way that staid Noll and shy Mai will _sleep together_ so fast!"

Yasuhara clucked his tongue. "Clearly you haven't been watching closely enough, _sensei_. Naru is going to take Mai-chan the instant they get it together. Haven't you seen the way he can't take his eyes off her – especially when she's being cute?"

"Because he _loves_ her, not because he wants to jump her!"

"Trust me, Madoka-_sensei_," Yasuhara said knowingly. "They've been secretly in love for years – all that pining for each other has to be building some serious tension."

The two gossips stared one another down.

Suddenly, Yasuhara grinned. "Care to make it a wager? If you win, I'll get you that really rare incense you like."

Madoka's eyes narrowed as she considered. Then Yasu smiled tauntingly, and she cracked. "Fine," she agreed. "If we make it a_ year's_ supply of it. And if you win, I'll buy you that super-fast laptop you've been whining about."

"Deal," Yasuhara declared, teeth somehow gleaming in the dim light. "Yay, laptop!"

"We'll see," Madoka drawled. "They've been in love for years, been locked in dark places together, have slept in the same room, etc. And they haven't managed to _kiss_ yet."

"Exactly," Yasuhara said with relish. "Once the dam breaks, that river's gonna come rushing in."

Mai returned to semi-consciousness with a groan. "I... need to lie down," she whimpered.

"Alright, Mai-chan, let's get you home." Madoka tucked Mai's head into her shoulder and steered her out of the bathroom.

Yasuhara grinned happily. "Ah, another successful Drunk Wednesday!" he crowed.

"I thought... we were calling it Baccha – Bacchanal-something something," Mai stuttered.

"Like I said before," Yasuhara noted, parting the crowd for Madoka and Mai. "_Way_ too hard to say while drunk. Big Boss doesn't consider these things."

-0O0-

AN:I know it's practically a transition chapter, but I really needed a break from PK drama. So instead, we have... Lin DramaXD.

Okay, wanted to make sure I got this posted before my part of the US gets hit by the combination hurricane and nor'easter that might trap me in a flooded apartment with no power for days. Trying not to worry. I should definitely go food shopping, though.


	29. Chapter 29

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Volume 12 would be out in English.  
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**Chapter 29 – Nervous Issues**

-0O0-

The sound of shrill screams snapped Mai out of unconsciousness. "Whaaatisit?" she slurred alarmedly, propelling herself up from the pillows... only to slam into what felt like an invisible brick wall.

Waves of pain hammered Mai's skull, and the world spun sickeningly as an obscene amount of light stabbed into her eyes. It took every ounce of her strength not to lean over the bed and throw up. "Uggggh, did I get possessed again?" Mai moaned, falling back to the mattress. _No, it couldn't be possession; they weren't on a case_...

Mai had completely forgotten about the screaming by the time it started up again. This time, though, she was awake enough to realize that the noise was actually her cell phone ringing. Ayako's ring tone featured the stylings of one of her favorite traditional Japanese singers... Mai reckoned she could _feel_ the high notes reverberating around in her achy brain. Wanting it to stop immediately, Mai yanked her phone off the dresser.

"Hello?" she asked throatily in Japanese. Mai wasn't sure she could manage proper English this morning.

"Sounds like you had a rough night," Ayako observed. "Wait, are you on a _case_, Mai? I_ thought_ you guys were going to take it easy at SPR, now that school is starting..."

Mai was_ sooo_ not in the mood to be reprimanded. "No, no case," she grumbled, covering her eyes with her free hand. That sunlight was _so bright..._ just like those strobe lights in the club... oh, right, _that's_ what happened. "I went out with Yasu and Madoka last night."

"Out?" Ayako repeated interestedly. "You mean like out _clubbing?_"

"Yes," Mai murmured, dragging a quilt over her head. Stupid sunlight.

"Wooow." Ayako sounded amazed. "So you've gotten over your aversion to the night scene, huh?"

"Ugh," Mai grunted. "Will everyone stop saying that? It's not like I sealed myself into my room after Avery and I broke up!"

"_And_ you're referring to That Person as Avery again," Ayako noted shrewdly. "_Something_ must have changed... maybe something to do with Naru?" She sounded hopeful – and prying.

Mai continued as if Ayako hadn't spoken. "We invented Drunk Wednesdays _after_ the Avery fiasco, remember? So I've obviously been out clubbing since the break-up!"

"Ahh, that's right. Yesterday was _Wednesday_," her almost-adopted mother realized. "So it was a twitchy Wednesday?"

"Super-twitchy," Mai confirmed, relieved that Ayako had stopped asking about Naru. Mai figured she'd done enough talking about Naru in the last twenty-four hours; memories of tearfully telling Madoka about the botched love confession were coming back in flashes. Mai took in a deep breath, gathering her wits into working order. She needed to force a subject change. "I didn't have training with Lin-san yesterday, so my balance was off. Plus, all the Lin Drama is stressing me out." There, that should catch her attention...

"So did Naru go to the club with you?" Ayako pressed, not taking the bait.

Mai bit down on her cheek, determined to push this conversation in another direction. "Lin-san's_ father_ is visiting from China, so everybody's been walking on eggshells. And Madoka is _beyond_ frustrated."

"I heard that you gave him Tominaga-sama's sutra as a birthday present." The shrine maiden was apparently just as determined.

But Mai just kept talking. "There's not much that Madoka can do about the whole mess... it's really Lin-san who has to handle it."

Ayako groaned resignedly. "Fine, Mai," she conceded. "Keep your secrets... I can just get them out of Yasu later."

"Like you haven't already?" Mai asked disdainfully. She hadn't told Ayako she'd even brought the sutra with her from Tokyo.

"Well, you're definitely _sounding_ more like Naru," Ayako rejoined. "Maybe it's true what they say, that couples mimic some of each other's behaviors..."

"Come on, Ayako," Mai begged, her patience gone. "Bad enough I have a hangover; I don't need reminding that Naru and I are definitely _not_ a couple."

"Yet," Ayako qualified.

Mai scowled at the phone. "Have you forgotten about the incredibly stupid confession I made?" she asked incredulously. "And his rejection of that confession?"

"No," Ayako replied slowly. There was a long pause, like the shrine maiden-slash-doctor was thinking hard about something. When she spoke again, her tone was hesitant. "But it's been two years, Mai. And I think that –"

"I am _so_ not going there, Ayako," Mai interrupted harshly. "I am _not_ ruining things. _Again_."

Her almost-adopted mother heaved a heavy sigh. "New topic?" she suggested finally.

"_Yes_, please."

"Alright... then tell me about Lin's_ father_," Ayako gushed.

Mai grinned. "Finally, some proper excitement for the Gossip of the Week."

"I kind of can't believe he _has_ a father," her almost-adopted mother muttered.

"Believe it."

"Is he as scary as Lin?"

"Scarier," Mai insisted. "And even quieter."

"That's not possible," Ayako replied unequivocally. "_No one_ can be silent like Lin Koujo."

"It's a family trait, I assure you," Mai laughed. "And SPR has been Drama Central since Lin Senior showed up. He's making a big issue out of Madoka's being Japanese, and Lin Junior is doing absolutely nothing about it. Madoka is pretty disgusted with both of them."

"No more 'Madoka-san?'" Ayako noticed.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure she asked me to drop the formalities last night..." Mai frowned; her head was spinning again. "It's a bit hazy."

"You _do_ have a pretty low tolerance for alcohol," Ayako mused teasingly.

Mai huffed in annoyance. "Shut _up_."

Ayako laughed openly. "You know, you sound better than I thought you would," she said solicitously.

"You sure about that?" Mai groaned, burrowing deeper into the bedclothes. "My head _really_ hurts."

"No, no, I meant that you sound calmer than I expected," Ayako clarified. "Cambridge term starts in four days, so I thought you might be unnecessarily freaking out."

"The Lin Drama has been distracting me," Mai joked... and then she fully processed Ayako's words. "You're right, though... only four days."

And suddenly, Mai's hangover headache was accompanied by sweaty palms and rapid breathing.

"Oh, no. Mai, I didn't mean to –"

"No!" Mai denied quickly. "I'm fine!" _Only four more days_.

"Mai, don't –"

"Um, Ayako, I've got to go... my head hurts, and I, um, need some food." Mai wasn't _ready_ yet. She still had two more books to read, _scores_ of prep notes to look over, and so many questions for Martin.

"Wait a minute!"

"Tell Bou-san I miss him, okay?" Mai's voice became thready as she tried not to hyperventilate into the phone. "And tell him I'm still waiting for the report on that high school case!"

"_Mai!_"

"Bye, Ayako!" Mai hung up and launched herself out of bed, heedless of the percussion practice taking place in her skull. She needed to take a walk. And she_ really_ needed to start one of those books. Maybe she could walk to that fountain in that park – a nice place to read, with all that water to calm her down... _Yes,_ _that's what I'll do today_, Mai thought as she walked over to the closet.

But apparently, her digestive tract had other ideas - a horrible lurching feeling stopped Mai mid-stride. She held very still, hoping her stomach would turn back over...

Nope.

As Mai ran for the bathroom, she saw Yasuhara's head pop up over the back of the couch.

"Hangover 101, Mai-chan!" he called after her. "_No sudden movements!_"

-0O0-

"Morning, Koujo," said a very familiar voice.

Lin looked up in surprise. Madoka hadn't spoken one word to him since their disastrous phone call fight. And now here she was, leaning against his office door like everything was fine.

Maybe it was a trap. Lin wouldn't put it past her... "Good morning," he replied neutrally.

"Oh, stop it," his girlfriend chided, rolling her eyes. "It's not like I'm not going to eat you – in fact, I have something important to tell you."

"Is it that you think the Japanese college student from the club is more attractive than I am?" Lin asked, eyes on his computer. "You already told me that via text."

Madoka tried very hard not to grin at the acid in her boyfriend's tone. She_ knew_ that would work. "I believe I said he was _cuter_ than you. And come on, Koujo, almost everyone is cuter than you!"

Lin wasn't quite sure how to feel about that argument.

The master ghost hunter let him swing for a minute. "Because you're not cute – you're _handsome_," she clarified. "And impressively able to call the spirits of the dead," Madoka added, regarding him thoughtfully. "_And_ you're taller."

Because apparently that mattered. "But I'm _only Chinese_," Lin drawled, repeating the specific wording of her text.

Madoka threw him a cold glare. "I don't _really_ think that way," she snapped. "I was only trying to sound like _you_."

"_You're_ the one that scoured the club for an explicitly Japanese suitor," Lin hissed.

"I don't have to _scour_," Madoka replied loftily, secretly loving how jealous he sounded. "_They _come to_ me_."

"Of course they do," Lin said unthinkingly. "You stand out anywhere."

Madoka gasped, and Lin wanted to eat his words. They were so... _vulnerable-sounding_.

Then again, as Madoka visibly struggled to keep from throwing herself at him, Lin concluded that showing emotional vulnerability wasn't _so_ bad...

Across the room, Madoka gripped the doorway like it was a life raft. She would_ not_ jump Koujo right now – he hadn't apologized, nor had he fixed anything with his father.

She would not jump him.

She would_ not_ jump him!

"So," the master ghost hunter said bracingly, "About what I actually came in here for – Mai-chan finally told me what happened with Noll the night before we left Japan."

Lin raised an eyebrow. "Did she?" They'd always wondered what had been said that night, but no one wanted to ask directly. That conversation had been the last between Noll and Mai for almost two years, and dredging old drama into the midst of their ever-improving relationship seemed counterproductive.

"Yeah." Madoka grinned. "Turns out the magic ingredient is alcohol – who knew? Anyway, apparently Mai-chan _confessed_ to Noll." Lin just stared, but Madoka knew he was waiting for her to continue. "To which Noll responded by informing her that she might be confessing to the _wrong Davis twin_," she finished emphatically.

The staunchly reserved Lin could not keep his eyes from widening in disbelief. "He _didn't_."

"He did," Madoka assured her boyfriend grimly. "From what Mai-chan sobbed out, Noll decided she must have been in love with the nicer, helpful-in-dreams Gene. She isn't, obviously... but Mai-chan also never corrected him. _That's_ why Noll hasn't twigged that he's in love with her. He's cut that off as a possibility."

The _onmyouji_ didn't speak for a full minute. How could Oliver think such a thing? The direction of Mai's affection was _so obvious_.

But then again... Noll had always assumed that the admiration he inspired in women was superficial, that his terse and unemotional deportment would quickly drive them off. (Which it sometimes did.) This belief was only encouraged by Gene's more lasting popularity with his own admirers - a popularity which Noll correctly attributed to his twin's much pleasanter manners. So of course Noll would think that the sensitive, caring Mai would prefer the gentler Gene.

_Not to mention_, Lin reasoned, _they were all leaving Japan_ _at the time of Mai's confession_. Noll wouldn't have been able to pursue a relationship, so perhaps he was subconsciously trying to protect himself. Considering that Noll had just watched the body of his murdered twin be pulled from a lake, an emotionally protective response wasn't impossible. In fact, for the logical Noll, it was almost probable...

"So," Madoka's voice broke the silence. "What are we going to do about it?"

Lin's eyes narrowed in consternation. "We're not going to do anything."

"Koujo, we have to do _something!_" Madoka argued. "Noll needs a push!"

"I disagree," Lin replied stonily.

"Ugh, of _course_ you do!"

"Noll would resent our getting _too_ involved," Lin pointed out. "We might wind up making things worse."

"For the short term, maybe," Madoka admitted. "But if we give Noll the necessary information..."

"He _has_ the necessary information," Lin insisted. "He just needs to figure out what it means. And Noll is uncommonly good at figuring things out."

"But I want to _help_!" Madoka whined. "Even if I wind up losing myself the bet!"

"Considering that this is _someone_ _else's_ relationship drama, you need to be more patient." Then Lin frowned. "What bet?"

"'Relationship drama,'" Madoka quoted, ignoring her boyfriend's question. She had a sneaking suspicion that Lin wouldn't appreciate her silly wager with Yasu. "Do you know that Mai-chan has named _our_ little kerfuffle the 'Lin Drama?'"

The primary Lin of the Lin Drama made an annoyed noise.

"Even _Noll_ is calling it that," Madoka continued, grinning.

The _onmyouji_ rolled his eyes heavenward.

"Speaking of which," his girlfriend soldiered on, "I'm tired of ignoring _this_ problem." She gestured between the two of them. "But... it's not for _me_ to fix." Madoka fixed Lin with a meaningful glare.

He recognized the opening, and took it. "Madoka," Lin began haltingly, looking resolutely out the window. "I'm... sorry for my father's behavior." A snort brought his eyes back to his girlfriend.

"For your _father?_" Madoka asked incredulously. "Your _father's_ behavior isn't your fault. _That's_ not what's you need to apologize for."

"It _is_," Lin contended. "Because I used to think like he did... at times, I still do."

Madoka was silent, thinking over what Mai and Luella insisted she should tell Lin. It was something Madoka had wanted to say for a long time... "None of what happened to China during the war was my fault," she said finally.

Lin looked surprised for a moment. Then he shook his head slowly. "No, it wasn't."

This admission freed something within Madoka, and the long-buried words just came spilling out. "I wasn't even _born_ then. Neither were you."

Her boyfriend sighed. "That's true."

"I'm not saying you should forget, Koujo," Madoka qualified. "We know what they say about those who forget their history. But you _can't_ let it color your judgment the way you do... and you can't hold me even a _little_ responsible for a war I had _nothing_ to do with. By the way, that goes for_ all_ Japanese people of your particular acquaintance."

Lin sighed again before turning to face his girlfriend. "It's... _difficult_ to let go of something I've held on to for so long," he said soberly. "But you're _right_, Madoka... and you're certainly worth the trouble of explaining that to my family."

The master ghost hunter pressed her lips together to keep from tearing up like a wuss.

And Lin wasn't even done. "So let's you and I explain it to my father," he finished, a ring of conviction in his voice. "Tonight."

Madoka's heart swelled up like a balloon. They would take on Lin Senior together, like a couple should. But... "Not tonight," she said firmly.

"_Not_ tonight?" Lin was lost. He figured that his tenacious girlfriend would want to resolve the issue immediately.

Madoka grinned at the _onmyouji_'s confusion... before sauntering over and grabbing Lin by his tie. "Not tonight," she repeated. "We'll tell him_ tomorrow_."

In case he somehow missed her meaning, she added provocatively, "We'll be _busy_ tonight."

-0O0-

The first Tuesday of October found Naru, Luella, Madoka, Lin, and Yasuhara eating breakfast together at the Davis house... and staring at the empty back staircase.

Eventually, Yasu lost his patience. "Come on, Mai-chan, stop being such a chicken!" he called up the stairs.

Silence.

"You can't hide up there forever!"

Silence.

"We're going to be late!" Yasuhara yelled. "_Late,_ for our first day at Cambridge!"

"I can't find... something!" Mai's disembodied voice yelled back.

"Can't find what? Your nerve?" Yasuhara joked. "Seriously, Mai-chan – you have no problem going up against scary-ass spirits that could _kill_ you, but you can't deal with _school?_"

There was a pause, and Mai's feet appeared at the top of the stairs. "It's a different kind of scary!" she hissed loudly.

"Yeah, if you mean_ less_ scary!" No answer this time. "Come on, Mai-chan! Remember how hard we worked on that paper for our transfer application? We spent _weeks_ on it! And now you're going to give up the first day? _Before_ the first day?"

"No..." A terrified-looking Mai drifted down the stairs, gripping the bannister with white-knuckled hands.

Pressing his advantage, Yasuhara continued. "You're just nervous that you won't measure up to the other students, right?" Mai glared. "That's what I thought." Yasu gave the rest of the table a wink. "I sincerely doubt you'll have any problems there, Mai-chan. I mean, think about it – Big Boss _had_ to have been the scariest student ever to darken the classroom door."

Lin, Luella, and Madoka all choked on various comestibles. Naru stared into his cup.

"And since you can handle Dr. Oliver Davis at his snottiest..." Yasu trailed off with a grin. The bespectacled boy could practically _hear_ Naru's teeth grinding. He could definitely hear Madoka's snorts of laughter. "Dealing with anyone else should be a breeze!"

Yasuhara's gambit worked – Mai detached herself from the wall, and rushed to her chair in a whirl of academic robes and a slightly hysterical giggle. "I never thought of it that way before," she admitted. None of her new classmates would be as scary as Naru (who was glaring pretty scarily as Yasu right now).

But they could be _almost_ as scary as Naru... Mai quailed inwardly. Her determination to stall their departure renewed, the teen psychic grabbed a Danish and a cup of tea.

"You better be taking that to go," Yasu said severely, recognizing her game. "We have to leave, like, _now_."

Mai leisurely stirred her tea and pretended she couldn't hear him.

"Mai-chan," Yasuhara warned.

Mai ripped off a piece of Danish. "The professor isn't even downstairs yet," she noted primly.

"The professor is already at Cambridge, as you well know," Yasuhara replied. "He had to be there early for the first day. And while we'll be driving in with him for the rest of term, _today_ we're taking the train. _Which comes very soon_."

"Does it?" Mai asked innocently.

"And here I thought you'd grown more responsible," Naru said idly.

Mai's eyes snapped up to meet Naru's. "I have."

"All evidence to the contrary," he retorted smugly.

"_All_ evidence?" Mai fumed. "You are such a –"

Yasuhara threw his hands in the air. Naru was helpfully trying to push Mai into going, but they didn't have time for a lengthy lovers' spat right now. "If you don't get up off your butt in three seconds, Mai-chan," Yasu threatened, "I'm going to tell everybody about what happened with the Third Client."

Mai froze mid-rant. "You wouldn't."

Yasuhara raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Have you just _met_ me?"

"Third Client?" Luella asked leadingly.

Mai and Yasuhara stared one another down, each daring the other to blink. Then Yasuhara smiled broadly.

"Right, so our Third Client took a _real_ shine to Mai-chan... not only did he decide to stay for the case, he also followed her around like a puppy." Yasuhara paused, but Mai showed no signs of moving. Yasu made a show of turning to address Naru directly. "Eventually, Mai-chan got fed up with the guy's _constant_ creepy staring, and decided to fill the stalk-alicious silence by explaining the effects of possession. You know, how it sometimes makes people –"

Mai banged her knee against the kitchen table as she flew up from her chair. She grabbed her Danish with one hand and Yasuhara's arm with the other. "No time for stories, let's go!"

"Ah, success," Yasu reveled as he was pulled from the room.

Madoka watched as the transfer students grabbed their bags and ran for the front door. "Have a great first day!" she yelled. Then she turned back to the table, grinning evilly. "So what say we comb through Mai's backup case files for mention of this 'Third Client?'"

-0O0-

Mai took a deep breath... and stepped across the threshold of the classroom. Beside her, Yasuhara let out a low whistle.

The classroom itself wasn't very different from lecture spaces at Todai – stadium seating, blackboards all across the front of the room, projectors, whiteboards, and a whole bunch of parapsychology tomes scattered on shelves. The robes didn't really throw her, either; Mai had worn school uniforms for years. Though the robes _were_ more voluminous than she was comfortable with - thank goodness Martin only required them for the first day of class (he thought they lent a 'lovely sense of occasion').

It was the buzz of English murmured all around the lecture hall that reminded Mai she was at _Cambridge_. Physically far from Tokyo, academically closer to Naru than Mai ever thought she could be...

And speaking of academics, there were lots and lots of super-smart parapsychology students milling about. All of whom looked happy and confident as they returned for their second year in the program... Mai's stomach flipped, and she gripped her cardboard teacup tightly as she shuffled toward the seats. Thank goodness there was a cafeteria that served decent tea. "Go for the middle-back," Mai whispered to Yasuhara.

"Naturally, Mai-chan," he whispered back. "Wouldn't want to look like teacher's pets, now would we?"

She poked him hard in the back. Eventually, they reached an area unencumbered with books, purses, or jackets, and Mai sank gratefully into a seat. Feeling instantly less visible, Mai positioned her notebooks and pens on the table in an exacting array.

Yasuhara rolled his eyes at Mai's plethora of carefully-arranged supplies, and pulled out his laptop. "One-stop shopping, Mai-chan." Yasu wondered if Mai realized that her insistence on hand-writing notes came from her experiences with Naru. She had a habit of unconsciously mimicking his work-study practices.

"Hmph," Mai scoffed, pulling a small bag of candy from her bag. "Your laptop can't supply you with snacks, Yasu. We both know you'll be sneaking some of mine within an hour."

"True," Yasu admitted. "I wonder what we'll be doing today..."

"As it's the first day back, I'd imagine Professor Davis will be doing a review lecture," said a voice from behind them.

Mai and Yasuhara turned as one to face the interloper. A brown-haired, tanned young man was standing in the aisle, regarding them rather condescendingly.

"But first, he'll probably introduce the two of you," the young man continued. "You _are_ the transfer students from Japan, correct?"

Mai's tongue felt thick in her mouth. This guy's attitude was not helping her nerves.

"Yes," Yasuhara replied (without a trace of his Japanese accent). "And we are so happy to make your acquaintance!" He smiled blindingly and grasped the haughty boy's hand. "Osamu Yasuhara, at your service. And this is Mai Taniyama."

Despite her anxiety, Mai had to grin at the guy's discomfited reaction to Yasu's calculated over-friendliness. She ducked her head in greeting, a compromise between bowing and the still-strange hand-shaking. "Pleased to meet you," Mai said in her most careful English.

"I'm Roger Todd," the guy announced, finally managing to extract his hand from Yasuhara's. "Second year in the program, obviously. Graduated Eton, on track for an internship at SPR."

"We're from Todai – er, Tokyo University," Mai replied, unsure of what she should say about their future 'track.' She and Yasu already worked for SPR... but Martin had asked them to keep that quiet. Apparently, his students were very competitive, and Professor Davis didn't want Mai or Yasu to suffer undue resentment.

"We've heard," another voice said. A few rows ahead of them, a sandy-haired guy had swiveled around in his seat to smile at the two new students. "That's an excellent school – best in Japan, I've heard. Do they offer parapsychology as a major?"

"Nope," Mai answered, happy that this guy was friendlier. "That's why we're here!"

There was a smattering of laughter (Roger Todd sniffed).

A blonde girl in the next row offered a hand for Mai to shake. "Andrea Woodhouse," she stated. "I plan to work in the field as a spiritual investigator."

Mai grinned and shook hands. "Me, too." Strictly speaking, Mai planned to _continue_ working in the field... but the other students didn't need to know about TTMPI. Mai didn't want to deal with_ any_ special attention while she was trying to get her bearings as a student. She was also planning to keep quiet about her psychic abilities.

"Hm, ghost hunting," someone else drawled. "A soft choice for those who can't hack it in academia."

Mai's back went up at once, and she glared at a red-headed girl sitting next to Friendly Sandy-Haired Guy. "Really?" Mai asked icily. "The ghost hunters who work for SPR risk their lives to help people, and provide research based on _real-life experiences. _You really think that's the _easy _path?"

Red-Haired Girl glared back, but didn't respond. Sandy-Hair gave Mai a thumbs up.

"Well, as far as I know, Professor Davis' favorite student ever was Madoka Mori – and she _leads_ the ghost hunting division of SPR," Andrea Woodhouse pointed out. "She's my hero," she said quietly to Mai, who grinned in return.

"And his best student ever was his son, Oliver Davis," Yasuhara chimed in. "_Not that we should_ _ever tell him we think that_," he whispered in Japanese. As Mai giggled, Yasu drove his point home. "And what does _he_ do for a living?"

"Writes books and does loads of scientific research," Red-Haired Girl answered brusquely.

"_And_ works under Madoka Mori on ghost hunting cases," Sandy-Hair interjected.

"Well, of _course_ Dr. Oliver Davis can do both jobs at once!" a shrill female voice simpered from the very front. A blonde, wearing fake nails and a pair of large gemstone earrings. Mai couldn't help but think that those nails would get in the way on a ghost hunt. Ayako had certainly lost enough of hers over the years...

"Maybe he can also do the job of locating your brain, Judith," a brunette next to Andrea suggested. This comment sparked another round of laughter.

"I have top marks, Charlotte!" Judith retorted. "So we'll just _see_ who catches Oliver Davis' eye the next time he visits!"

Mai resisted an eye-roll – Judith wasn't about to catch Naru's eye, top marks or no. She was too slaveringly fan-girlish for Naru's tastes. Naru _was_ a narcissist, but he was uncomfortable with such open displays of romantic interest.

_Like confessions of love..._ Mai shook her head to clear it.

"Ah," came Martin's voice, booming across the classroom. "Glad to see everyone's met our new transfer students. This will be their first foray into an official parapsychology program, but given their excellent research work at Tokyo University, I'm sure they'll catch on quickly. And I trust you'll make them feel welcome!"

Murmurs erupted all over the classroom, and several covert glances were shot their way. Mai fought the urge to duck underneath the table, while Yasuhara merely smiled benignly.

Then Martin cleared his throat and pulled out a PowerPoint controller. Everyone faced front, and Roger Todd moved quickly to a seat in the front row (_of course_ he sat there). Mai breathed a quiet sigh of relief; Introduction Time was over.

At the head of the class, Martin favored Mai with a (hopefully unnoticed) wink. "Now, let's review a bit, shall we?"

-0O0-

The lecture classes were pretty standard – listen and learn. Their first seminar, however, was much more interactive. Mai was extremely thankful for the many hours she'd spent debating parapsychology with the SPR gang; there was a sense of _preparedness _mixed into Mai's anxiety.

"So," Martin said, pacing in front of his lectern, "I postulate that residual hauntings are among the most dangerous of paranormal occurrences." In an effort to make his transfer students feel more comfortable at Cambridge, Martin had decided to play to their strengths and start the term off with residual spirits. He knew that a great debater was hiding inside Taniyama; after all, she had no trouble taking on Noll or Madoka. She just needed to calm down. "Using the notes we've taken, as well your own knowledge of the subject... defend my statement."

Unsurprisingly, there were several volunteers. Roger Todd's face was all smiles as he all but waved his hand in Professor Davis' face. Yasuhara snorted quietly in his place beside Mai. She elbowed him as Martin gestured for Roger to speak.

But when Roger cleared his throat importantly, Mai couldn't resist a snort of her own. She briefly deliberated texting Naru an apology for considering him the most stuck-up academic she'd ever met. Roger Todd clearly took that prize.

And for whatever reason, Todd seemed to have it in for Mai and Yasuhara... maybe he'd noticed Martin's secret wink in her direction. In any case, he'd been sneering at the Japanese students since minute one of term.

"I believe the danger of residual spirits lies in the probability of violence resulting from their 'unfinished business,'" Todd stated. "Residual spirits are typically fueled by powerful negative emotions stemming from untimely death and regret. Such emotions are highly likely to produce viciousness towards the living."

Martin nodded slowly. "Evidence does suggest that residual spirits are more prone to violence than other types of spirits. It has also been accepted that this violence is usually caused by specific negative emotions."

Professor Davis' praise was met with a smarmy smile from Roger Todd. Mai found she preferred Naru's smirks, much as they got her back up.

"However," Martin cautioned, "You began your defense incorrectly, Mr. Todd."

Mai couldn't help grinning meanly as Todd's face fell.

The professor wasn't quite done, either. "There is also more to say concerning the _understanding_ of residual spirit violence. Spiritualists don't simply abandon a haunting once they discover the presence of a residual ghost. Our research is possible because in many cases, the risks can be assessed and minimized. So, how can one accommodate for the danger?"

Roger Todd froze, mouth half-open. Apparently, he hadn't any real-life ghost hunting experience to draw from. Mai smirked.

Martin moved to address the room. "With regard to these proposed revisions, can anyone retool Mr. Todd's statement?"

"Should we go for it, Mai-chan?" Yasuhara whispered into her ear. "We can prove ourselves to the class right quick."

"Maybe_ you_ can, Yasu," Mai corrected. "How exactly do you 'retool' a statement?" This was another thing Mai was nervous about – getting lost in an academic to-and-fro conducted in her second language. A minor lack of comprehension while arguing with her friends was one thing; the thought of embarrassing herself in class made Mai's hands shake.

"Professor Davis wants the class to adjust Todd's definition – in this case, he wants someone to add to the definition_ and_ correct for something. How about _I_ provide the additional information, and _you_ tell the class what Todd got wrong?"

"But I don't _know_ what he got wrong," Mai hissed, panicking as Yasuhara raised his hand.

"Yes, you do," Yasuhara whispered out of the corner of his mouth. "Todd said that he believed that residual spirits were dangerous because blah, blah, blah. The mistake is right there in the beginning. Think like Naru for a second."

Mai bit her lip. What was wrong with believing that residual spirits were dangerous? They _were_ dangerous! If anything, Naru would agree with Todd's statement. After all, so many facts supported - _oh!_

"Go ahead, Mr. Yasuhara," Martin called, smiling genially.

"To build upon my esteemed colleague's response," Yasu began with a gleaming smile, "The danger involved in a residual haunting can often be minimized with a thorough analysis of attack patterns. Violent residual spirits usually stick to a specific attack method – like drowning, hair yanking, or using objects as projectiles. Residual ghosts also tend to have a distinct pattern of victim selection. For example, a female ghost murdered by a male lover will often only target men – and in some cases, her target will be a man who looks or behaves like the one who ended her life."

Martin smiled brilliantly. "Just what I was looking for, Mr. Yasuhara!" Seeing that Yasu looked like he had more to say, the professor prompted, "Anything else?"

"Thank you, sir. While Mr. Todd correctly stated that negative emotions fuel violence in residual hauntings, it should be noted that these negative emotions are usually built up over time. Dangerous hauntings don't usually happen without warning; it takes time for the ghost to go from 'sad and regretful' to 'twisted and vengeful.'"

"Also an excellent addition to our definition," Martin enthused, writing keywords on the board behind him. The class scribbled notes obediently.

"Professor?" Mai asked in a smaller voice than she'd wanted. "May I add something else?"

"Of course, Miss Taniyama." Martin nodded encouragingly.

"Violence by residual spirits may not always con-constitute a deliberate attack." Ugh, no stuttering! Mai drew a breath and willed her voice to sound more natural. She imagined herself talking to a client... much better. "Using Yasuhara's example of the woman murdered by a lover," Mai continued steadily, "Let's say the spirit died of strangulation. If the spirit tries to strangle a living person, it _could_ be because the spirit wants others to suffer her fate. But it could _also_ be that the spirit is trying to tell someone her story. As Yasu said, the longer the spirit stays in the real world, the more twisted that spirit's emotions become. It may attack because that's the only way it gets attention."

"I agree, Taniyama," Sandy-Hair threw in. "In his latest research paper, Oliver Davis argued that spirits often possess people to call for help, rather than to attack."

Mai smiled at the assist. "Exactly. This is especially true when a ghost possesses a medium. I recently read a great book about the motives behind ghostly possession. It was written by a Chinese medium who provided lots of first-hand accounts, _and_ backed himself up with research done by Professor Davis' own SPR."

Then Mai zeroed in on Roger Todd and looked him straight in the eye. "Speaking of research, the only mistake you made with your definition was that you started it with 'I believe.' Parapsychology is trying to move away from guesses and unsub..." she trailed off. Mai knew what she wanted to say, but it was a tough word.

"Unsubstantiated," Andrea Woodhouse supplied, smiling warmly.

"Yes, thank you." Mai smiled back, happy at the ready acceptance from (most of) her peers. She was glad that Yasu decided they were improving this definition. "Parapsychology can no longer depend on rumors and unsubstantiated beliefs. It's not enough that we personally believe it - if we're to be taken as serious scientists, we have to present our research as fact and use as much evidence as possible to back our claims."

"Excellently put, Taniyama!" Martin noted crisply. "And exactly what I was looking for." He _knew_ she'd be good at this. _It's going to be an exciting term_, Martin thought as his gaze swept the room. "With that in mind, there will be an essay on residual spirits due next class - and I do not want to see the word 'believe' unless you are transcribing a witness account."

As Professor Davis handed out an assignment sheet, Yasuhara nudged Mai. "I seem to remember reading a line like that somewhere... I think it went, 'In order to be considered serious scientists, we must dispassionately present the facts and use objective research to back our claims.' Hmm, doesn't that sound_ suspiciously_ similar to your argument?" Yasu pushed his glasses up his nose. "I'm telling Naru that you quoted from his book in class."

"I didn't say _exactly_ those words!" Mai muttered.

"Okay, I'll tell Naru you paraphrased his thesis in class."

"Yasu!" she hissed.

"Mai-chan!" he hissed back. "Don't you _want_ Naru to know how well you understand his life's work? One more step towards getting you two together."

"_What?_" Mai gasped loudly.

Several people turned to face them, and the professor stopped talking. Mai's face burned and she shrank in her seat.

"Sorry, everyone, Mai-chan needed a word translated. All okay up here!" Yasuhara assured brightly.

It took a full minute for Mai to find the strength to pull her hands away from her face. "Yasu, what are you _talking_ about? Naru doesn't like me like that!"

Her best friend's expression became unusually serious. "Are you sure about that?"

Mai rolled her eyes. "Are you and Ayako joining forces behind my back?" she asked acidly. "I am _not going there_. Now shut it, Yasu – we've made a good impression, let's not lose it five minutes later." Mai stared hard at her notes.

Yasuhara studied his fellow transfer student, attempting to sift through the complicated emotions on her face. _Madoka might win that bet after all_, he mused. Mai was more determined to misunderstand Naru's feelings than Naru himself seemed to be.

-0O0-

Mai could feel her skin dampening as she performed her _taolu_. It wasn't the physical stress of Testing Day making her sweat, but rather the unnerving stare of Lin Senior boring into the side of her face.

The teen psychic considered the series of events which led to this unenviable situation. The Lin Drama was mostly over – Madoka and Lin Junior had apparently faced Lin Senior as a united front, informing him that they would continue to date... and that relying on an old prejudice to evaluate Madoka's worthiness was unfair.

Madoka had privately told Luella and Mai that it hadn't been an easy discussion, and mentioned that Lin Senior had glared at her a lot. However, after years of dealing with Lin Junior and Naru, Madoka Mori was practically immune to glares. Her bravery had even won her a bit of favor with the difficult man. Lin Senior was by no means happy with his son's 'rebellion,' but he _did_ officially withdraw his complaint about Madoka's heritage.

So now, Lin Senior was spending _lots_ of time at SPR, presumably gauging Madoka's merit as a possible daughter-in-law... and gauging his son's involvement with the other Japanese people he worked with. Today, Lin Senior was observing Mai's _qigong_ lessons... and causing a noticeable uptick in Mai's nervousness-factor. While he wasn't outright nasty anymore, Lin Senior still glared with more force than Mai found comfortable. She could almost _see_ the man thinking, 'Not only is my son's girlfriend from Japan, but so is his primary student.'

Mai _did_ recognize the irony in Lin's work and social life. For a Chinese man working in England, Lin sure did have a whole bunch of Japanese people around him. Mai was sort of glad that Ayako had decided not to come this week; that might have been the straw that broke Lin Senior's back.

_Ah, Ayako_, Mai thought as she shifted positions. The shrine maiden felt awful over sending Mai into a week-long anxiety attack, and decided that only her immediate presence would fix the situation. Ayako had been reserving plane tickets by the time Bou-san pointed out that she had no vacation time left. In the end, Martin had to get on the phone and inform Ayako that Mai and Yasuhara were both doing wonderfully at Cambridge, and everybody's nerves were fine. Yasuhara had joked that Mai's guardians were getting an early progress report.

_Ugh, Yasu_. Mai added an eye-twitch to her usual series of _qigong_ movements, remembering how gleeful Yasu had sounded when he traitorously told Naru about Mai's referencing his work in class.

To which Naru had replied, "Of course she'd want to use the best material available." Mai had barely refrained from dumping tea in his lap...

A huff sounded across the room – apparently Lin Senior had noticed Mai's loss of focus. He probably thought she wasn't taking her lessons seriously. Mai exhaled a long, calming breath... and took her practice up a notch. She put all other thoughts from her mind, moving with the extreme deliberation of her first lessons with Gene.

Meanwhile, Mai's actual instructor furrowed his brow. Lin appreciated the extra effort Mai was putting in for his judgmental father, but the sense that something was... off about her_ taolu_ was coming back with a vengeance. Something about the arm movements... flowed wrong, or something.

_Arm movements_, Lin repeated internally. Mai channeled her PK through her forearms, which wasn't unusual at all; many adepts utilized their arms to focus their powers. Naru, for example, and Gene, as well... which made sense, since Gene had been the one who gave Mai her first PK-MT lessons.

On that note, the _onmyouji_ still couldn't quite believe that Gene had been regularly appearing to Mai over the last two years, helping on cases while teaching PK and astral projection lessons. Lin wondered how Noll was adjusting to that knowledge. His initial reaction had been rather wild, after all...

Lin refocused on Mai just in time to see her make an unnervingly familiar motion with her hands. Mai gracefully drew her hands together in front of her face, as if preparing to catch something.

The _onmyouji_ froze in shock.

_When did she learn TH__AT move? Furthermore, WHY had she learned that move?_ Lin frantically searched his memory... he was _sure_ he'd never seen Mai perform a 'catching' maneuver until today.

He also doubted that Mai had accidentally forgotten to include it in her regular exercises. The movements of a person's _taolu_ were made to flow one into the next, memorized through repetition. It would have been stranger for Mai to forget movements than remember them. And given her newly secretive ways... Mai must have _deliberately_ left that maneuver out of previous demonstrations. Lin guessed that his father's presence had unnerved Mai into slipping up.

Lin's eyes popped wide open as several trains of thought collided. Mai's mysterious arm movements, Gene's lessons, and Noll's reactions. They added up to_ something..._ and Lin was going to find out what.

And it turned out his suspicions had been right on – communication with Gene wasn't Mai's only secret. Lin's mouth settled into a grim line as Mai unthinkingly made another fluid, precise catching motion.

Lin remembered teaching Gene to hold his hands just like that... for when he caught Noll's PK energy, increased it a bit, and sent it flying back.

-0O0-

AN: I know, I know. I'm sorry. This chapter gave me SO MUCH TROUBLE. Part of it, I think, was the lack of Naru and Mai interaction, lol. Apparently, sometimes other people have to talk:) Another part was trying to include a British university setting. Having never been to one, I was relying on the Cambridge website for help lol. (If anybody has tips, please feel free to message me!)

Then there was the stupid storm - my husband and I are fine, but we lost power for a week, and our area's been a mess. On that note, thank you to everyone for the well-wishes and storm survival tips:) You guys are the best!:D

Also, my stupid health issues are being stupid again. I would like to go on the record and say that while I enjoy being a girl, sometimes it really sucksXD.

Anyway, thank you all for waiting patiently, and I will do my best to get the next chapter out more quickly. I'm going to try for next week:)


	30. Chapter 30

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Volume 12 would be out in English.  
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**Chapter 30 – Collision and Collusion**

-0O0-

Lin was so lost in thought that he didn't notice Mai finish her exercises.

He didn't see her pad across the mats for their usual post-lesson discussion.

He barely registered his father's annoyance at his unprofessional inattention, and he even didn't bat an eyelash Lin Senior starting asking questions in his stead.

Eventually, an unsubtle nudge to the arm jerked Lin from his reverie... and he came back to Earth to meet his father's glare of dissatisfaction. The _onmyouji_ felt uncomfortably like a misbehaving adolescent who'd come home late on a school night.

Once Lin Senior was certain that his son was actually paying attention, he turned back to Mai. "So, Taniyama-san. You are capable of releasing significant amounts of energy, yet you try to avoid such expenditures. Do you lack the innate ability to recover from overuse? Or perhaps a problem with controlling high levels of energy?"

_In other words_, Lin thought to himself, _is it that my useless son hasn't taught you proper control exercises?_

"My recovery time _is_ pretty slow," Mai admitted, sounding happy that the elderly Chinese man was interested. "But I don't have the same recovery problem that Naru does, if that's what you're asking. As long as my body sucks in enough outside energy to make up for a big loss, I'm okay. It just takes a while."

And Koujo Lin froze once more. "What?" he asked tensely.

Mai was too caught up in trying to impress Lin Senior to notice her instructor's alarm. "My body apparently pulls energy in from the outside – like my senses react to outside stimuli," she explained, unconsciously quoting Gene.

Lin just stared, too shocked to respond. It was as if Mai had nonchalantly dropped a bomb onto the mat and only Lin realized it.

Mai's PK-MT abilities were _receptive_.

Like _Gene's_.

The ramifications of this discovery were piling up in Lin's head with alarming speed... until a light touch on the hand caught his attention.

"Lin-san, are you alright?" Mai asked, her gaze wide-eyed and worried.

Lin remembered Mai looking similarly anxious when they'd spoken about Noll hurting himself with PK. He _had_ to imagine that Mai would be open to conducting compatibility trials...

But what if she got hurt? The last round of trials had been _disastrous. _Lin's fingers twitched under Mai's, as a vision of her eyes glazed over in pain superimposed itself over her current compassionate expression. "I'm... fine. Taniyama-san, I need to... we need to... please help me clean up."

Mai rose numbly. She had never heard Lin sound so... _bumbling_ before. Somehow, she pulled it together enough to address Lin Senior. "_Xie xie, Lin-sifu_," she pronounced carefully, bowing low.

The elder Lin gave Mai a look of surprise. "_Bu keqi_, _xiesheng_," he replied, bowing his head in return. "It appears that my son's choice in students has proven most fortunate."

This acknowledgement was so shocking that both Mai and Lin paused their internal panic attacks. Mai blushed to the roots of her hair, and Lin's jaw dropped open. Before either of them could recover, Lin Senior rose from the mats and walked swiftly out the door.

Student and teacher exchanged an amazed glance.

"Did that really just happen?" Mai squeaked.

"As far as I know, there is no ghost on the property... so I doubt it was a hallucination," Lin answered slowly.

"Hold on," Mai said. "He said_ students_, Lin-san. Are you training someone else?"

Lin huffed amusedly at the question. It almost sounded like Mai was accusing him of dating more than one woman. "He was talking about Noll," Lin informed her. _And Gene_, his mind added... which brought Lin back to his original quandary.

Mai scoffed. "_Of course_ he'd like Naru," she groused. "They could probably have whole conversations in Glare Language."

The _onmyouji_ observed Mai for a moment. She seemed calm enough to answer some important questions... so long as he was cagy about asking them. "Speaking of language," Lin interjected. "When did you learn Chinese?" He decided to start with an innocuous question to draw her into conversation. Lin also made sure to turn away and roll up the mats. He'd noticed that Mai seemed more forthcoming when questioned without eye contact.

"I didn't," Mai replied easily. She followed Lin's lead and started packing up. "Not really. My first _onmyouji_ instructor was Chinese, remember? He taught me a few phrases."

"Your first instructor..." Lin repeated, keeping his voice casual. "Your _actual_ first instructor was Gene, yes?"

Mai's fingers froze on the video recorder she was disassembling. "With some of my psychic abilities," she admitted. "But not with _qigong_." Gene hadn't taught her any of his moves until they'd decided to do the transfer. "He said I'd need a master to look me over first, to gauge what I needed."

"He spoke correctly," Lin intoned. "But your higher-level PK-MT skills... those came from Gene." That _was_ what she'd said before, but Lin wanted to be sure.

At last, Mai seemed to recognize that she was being unofficially interrogated. "Well, yes," she said warily. "I told you that."

Lin turned back to face Mai. "Yes, you did." He watched his student's fingers tighten on the video recorder. "Did Gene teach you _all_ of your PK-MT skills?" he asked carefully.

Mai quirked a brow in confusion. Hadn't she just answered that question? "Yes," she replied slowly.

_Taniyama-san doesn't realize that she performed 'new' moves today_, Lin noted. "How... interesting," he said aloud. How very, _very_ interesting – Gene must have been thinking along the same lines as Lin was now...

The teen psychic's face grew suspicious. "Yeah, I guess that lessons from a spirit must be pretty rare."

Lin raised an eyebrow at her attempted deflection. "Yes and no. Having a spirit guide is indeed rare, but teaching you about your powers is what a spirit guide usually does."

Mai tried to smile disarmingly; her instincts were screaming that Lin was up to something. "Then I'm glad Gene takes his job seriously."

Lin's stare could have pierced armor. "One wonders just _how_ seriously."

_Danger, danger!_ "Um... probably just as seriously as he's supposed to," Mai replied evasively, edging backwards. It was definitely time to run for it. "If we want Testing Day to go better than last week, I'm going to need some lunch." The teen psychic snatched her jacket from the couch. "So, same time next week?" she joked weakly as she made a break for the door.

"Taniyama-san."

Her teacher's hard tone stopped Mai in her tracks. "Yes, Lin-san?" she asked, forcing some innocent-sounding cheer into her voice.

Across the room, Lin was hastily rethinking his plan to question her about PK seeding. When Mai had turned to face him, clutching her coat to her chest... her position had pulled Lin's memory backward a few minutes. He saw again Mai's unwitting performance of a catching maneuver - only this time, his imagination filled Mai's empty hands with a glowing ball of PK energy. And instead of facing an empty wall, Mai was facing Noll.

In Lin's mental movie, Noll waited expectantly as the ball of energy intensified in Mai's hands.

Finally, she launched it back... and then collapsed to the ground, unconscious and barely breathing.

Heedless of his student's worried stare, Lin stared into space_. It doesn't matter if Mai's PK powers are receptive, does it?_ Mai could never have the freak spiritual connectivity with Noll that Gene had possessed. It wasn't possible... so why bother dragging Mai into a no-win situation?

_Because it might NOT be a no-win situation_, the other side of Lin's mind argued. Even if Mai could never sync perfectly with Noll, their obvious emotional connection still made Mai SPR's most promising candidate yet.

And if Mai knew there was a possibility that she could aid Noll in so important a way... she would say yes without even blinking an eye. Mai would be on the mats with her hands up, ready to go in one minute flat.

Madoka would excitedly record the test from the sidelines, Martin would eagerly attach electrodes to Mai's forehead and chest...

...and Noll would stab Lin in the neck with a pen.

And then maybe he'd toss Lin's bleeding body at a bookshelf, as a sort of perverse tribute to their first case with Mai in Japan.

Lin grimaced. It appeared that he'd been ignoring a very important component of this situation – Noll's reaction to running trials with Mai. Which even Lin's imagination seemed to realize would be really, really bad.

The _onmyouji_ swallowed his questions for Mai – they would obviously have to wait. After all, there would be no stopping Mai once the opportunity to help Noll was presented to her. And Noll would never forgive Lin for going over his head to involve Mai in potentially hospitalizing trials, which meant Lin _had_ to talk to Noll about it first.

Not that Lin even _needed_ to take Noll's temperature on the subject – he could hear the resounding _NO_ already. But he _had_ to try, for the sake of Noll's future safety... even if the resultant drama ended with Martin preparing Mai for testing while Noll bludgeoned Lin into unconsciousness with a dowsing rod.

Decision made, Lin cleared his throat and leveled a serious look at Mai. "Make sure you don't eat any meat at lunch," he intoned seriously.

His student blinked dazedly. Mai's mind had been racing, dreading what would come of Lin's unnaturally troubled expression. _That was it?_ "Of course not, Lin-san," the teen psychic said slowly. "Did you want me to pick something up for _you_ to eat?" Lin definitely looked pale...

The inquiry successfully distracted Lin from the myriad ways Noll might kill him for proposing Mai as a PK test subject. His current imagining involved the electro-stimulation machine and needles under his fingers. "No thank you, Taniyama-san," the _onmyouji_ managed to reply. "I have to discuss something with... Madoka," he lied.

The teen psychic nodded knowingly. "Yeah, you should probably tell her about having dinner with Lin Senior. She'll need time to mentally prepare."

Lin started to nod in return – and then actually processed Mai's words. "What? What dinner?"

The look Mai gave him was so reminiscent of Noll's 'you're-an-idiot' expression that Lin _almost_ smiled. "You know, the dinner that your dad asked you to set up with Madoka tomorrow," his student replied slowly (as if talking to a small child). "He said he's leaving tomorrow night, so he wants to spend some time with you guys." She grinned. "You were _really_ out of it before, huh?"

Lin glared.

Unfortunately, it seemed his glare no longer had the intended effect. Mai giggled. "Maybe you should call your father," she opined smilingly.

Lin glared harder. "Go eat your lunch," he ordered.

As Mai sniggered her way out the door, Lin sighed wearily. _Madoka was right, _he thought. _We never should have gotten out of bed this morning_.

-0O0-

In an attempt to dispel the nervous energy zinging through her body, Mai chose to walk down to the office floor. She wanted to collect Yasuhara from his cubicle before heading down to the diner. Mai hated eating alone; she'd had years of it in Japan. Thoughts of lonely nights with only the television for company ran through Mai's mind as she stepped onto the landing –

And banged right into Naru.

She tried to pull herself back as quickly as possible... which naturally made Mai lose her balance completely. Her eyes had barely widened with fear when Naru swiftly pulled Mai against his body, using their momentum to fall sideways against the staircase rail.

Disaster averted, Mai tried very hard to focus on the relief of escaping injury... and not on how Naru's shoulder felt under her hand. Or how warm his face was against her forehead. Or how her breathing automatically synchronized with the movement of his chest against hers. She lost the fight quickly, and couldn't help looking up into Naru's amazingly close eyes.

Though outwardly unaffected, Naru was having similar difficulties – though he tried to reason his reactions away as best he could. _Of course_ he wanted to keep Mai from falling down the stairs... and the soft feeling he got from looking down at her was _obviously_ protectiveness. Which was _normal_. It had everything to do with his natural compunction to keep his friend from harm, and nothing to do with the way Mai was looking at him like he'd just hung the moon.

Naru shook his head to clear it, and elected to cover his internal disorder by engaging in a much more comfortable form of interaction. Dropping his arms from Mai's body, he raised a condescending eyebrow. "Incidents like this make me question whether your _many_ staircase accidents are truly caused by spiritual interference, Mai," Naru said silkily. "Considering your deplorable attention span, I could reasonably reclassify at least half of your injuries to simple clumsiness."

It took Mai a few seconds to snap out of her trance, and a few more to process Naru's words. Then her blush of embarrassment turned into a flush of rage. "You jerky, self-important NARCISSIST!" she yelled furiously, glaring daggers into Naru.

"Calling me self-important _and_ a narcissist is redundant, Mai," Naru informed her smugly. Then he smirked.

With a screech fueled by equal parts embarrassment and anger, Mai threw her coat at him. Naru ducked around it with ease, which only made Mai more determined to hit him. She swung the coat again... but this time, Mai threw herself too far forward, and her foot slipped backwards off the top step. Mai _eeked_ as she felt herself start to fall. She looked for something to grab onto... and then a strong hand clamped around her arm and yanked her back onto the landing.

For the second time in as many minutes, Mai found herself pressed to Naru's chest. The only difference was their breathing – this time, hers was much faster than his. Mai's face exploded in a raging blush.

"Thank you for proving my point," Naru said softly.

Mai could almost _hear_ him smirking... but most of her focus was locked on the way she could _feel_ Naru's voice reverberating through his body and into hers. "What?" she asked stupidly.

Naru found himself distracted by the breathy sound of Mai's question_. Of course she'd sound like that_, he ranted at the increasingly dominant endocrine center of his brain. _She almost fell down the stairs... again_.

Thankfully, this last thought made Naru remember what he'd been talking about. "I definitely have to reclassify several of your injuries in my notes," he said, as he released Mai from his hold.

Mai's ire was up instantly, but she knew better than to go for a physical attack again. First off, she might klutz out again. Secondly, despite Naru's _incredibly_ _irritating_ attitude, he had just saved her from bodily injury. Twice. So she just rolled her eyes.

"Where are you rushing off to, anyway?" Naru asked idly, trying to force his brain back to normal.

"Oh, I'm picking up Yasu for lunch!" Mai replied rather merrily.

At these words, a strange hot _something _swooped through Naru's stomach. "Right," he managed thickly.

Mai frowned. Why did Naru looked pissed off all of a sudden? "Did you want me to pick up some tea for you while I'm down there?" she asked politely. Naru really liked the diner's tea.

"You're going to Glen's," Naru surmised.

"Well, yeah," Mai affirmed. "We always go to the diner on Wednesdays – I need the large portions for energy. We have testing later," she reminded her former boss.

"You just finished training with Lin," Naru stated, as if he was telling her instead of himself.

"Yes..." Mai said slowly. What was _with_ everyone today? _First Lin's in space, and now Naru? _"Did you want some lunch, too? You can come with us."

Naru considered the question. He_ was _hungry... and his stomach seemed to feel mysteriously better at the thought of being at the diner himself. "Yes," he answered finally.

Mai beamed. Naru almost never ate voluntarily, and he'd _never_ so easily agreed to eat lunch as a group. Maybe he was actually learning social graces! Mai practically skipped toward the offices.

"You're buying," Naru said from behind her. "Since I was forced to keep you from falling down the stairs – _twice_."

Then again, maybe not. Mai gritted her teeth, but she couldn't deny the charge. "Penny-pinching jerk," she muttered under her breath.

"My miserly tendencies have no effect on my hearing," Naru noted smugly as he came up beside her.

"Just on your manners," Mai shot back.

Naru chuckled – and reached over Mai's shoulder to open the door to the office area. "After you," he purred.

Mai looked up into Naru's amused eyes. "How come you _only _do gentlemanly things when you're being a jerk?"

"Because otherwise you'd worry he was possessed, wouldn't you?" a familiar voice asked.

Mai whipped around to see Madoka standing in front of them, wearing a worryingly Yasu-like grin.

"But _really_ it's because I told Noll he could only train under me if he 'sweetened' his manners. So naturally, he perverted my request to suit himself." Madoka's laughing gaze was on Naru. Mai felt his arm stiffen against her shoulder.

"May we help you?" Naru asked acidly, not liking the look in his former mentor's eyes.

Madoka privately squealed at Noll's reference to himself and Mai as a collective. "Just observing some behavior alterations in the resident animal life," she quipped.

"Hear that, Mai?" Naru asked. "Madoka just called you an animal."

"And you're complaining?" Mai retorted. "_You're_ the one who started that."

"I wasn't talking about Mai-chan!" Madoka sang, her grin widening.

Naru scowled.

"Ha!" Mai cried. "She was calling _you_ an animal, Naru! And you don't like it, do you?" She giggled. "Feels rather _degrading_, doesn't it?"

"Hardly," Naru replied in a clipped tone. "Humans are classified as animals, as per the Linnaean taxonomic system. I fully acknowledge that I am human."

"Ugh!" Mai stomped. How did he always manage to turn it around on her?!

"Yes, I would have to guess that you're feeling very _human_ today, Noll," Madoka noted, her eyes dancing.

Naru watched Madoka's gaze run from his face down to the arm holding the door open. Then she winked at him. Naru considered releasing the door – but then it would smack into Mai, and it wasn't _her_ fault that Madoka was being an idiot. Besides, such an act would render his earlier expenditures of energy on Mai's behalf useless. "_Get going_, Mai," he hissed in her ear.

Madoka only giggled harder when Naru's nearness made Mai jump about a foot.

"What's going on over here?" another voice asked.

Naru almost groaned as Yasuhara walked up behind Madoka.

"Madoka's watching Naru be an animal or something," Mai replied exasperatedly as she tried to tamp down her blush.

"I'll bet she is," Yasu said smarmily. Naru was standing _really_ close to Mai right now... and although he was obviously only holding the door open (an amazing occurrence in itself), it_ could _look like Naru was trying to pin Mai up against said door.

As a lecherous-looking smile spread across Yasuhara's face, Naru's patience snapped completely. "We're attempting to retrieve you, Yasuhara," Naru bit out. "It's lunchtime."

Yasu's eyes widened. "_You're _coming with us, Big Boss?" This was new.

"Obviously," Naru replied archly. "Now let's end this idiotic interlude and _go_." He maneuvered Mai under his arm and back through the door.

Yasuhara noticed something unusual as Naru and Mai started down the stairs. He elbowed Madoka and grinned.

Naru didn't seem to notice that his hand was still resting on Mai's back. Mai definitely noticed, though – she was glowing like a stoplight. And unconsciously leaning closer to Naru.

"I am _so_ going to win the bet," Yasu whispered gleefully.

-0O0-

Lin ducked into an alcove just outside of Noll's office, ignoring several confused stares from the bullpen. Even though he'd already spent an entire day debating whether to tell Noll about Mai's receptive capabilities, Lin still wasn't sure of his course.

_I HAVE to tell him_, he thought to himself. _Noll__ needs to know he has options_.

_It's not an option__, though_, the other side of his brain argued. _Because he__ won't test with her. _

_That doesn't matter. Noll needs to know that Mai's PK-MT is receptive like Gene's_. _It could change everything._

Lin grimaced at the wall. It _could_ change everything. But Noll would probably do everything in his power to stop it, no matter the cost to his future safety.

Noll's power was intrinsic – meaning that his PK-ST abilities came from his own huge _qi_. Gene had had a moderate amount of intrinsic PK himself, but only the lower-level PK-MT. Gene's more useful (and rare) PK ability was his receptiveness to outside energy. This receptivity had enabled him to absorb and manipulate Noll's insane amount of PK.

Of course, receptivity hadn't been the _only_ factor. Though the twins had experimented with other PK users over the years, they'd only found success when working with one another. It turned out that Gene could _absorb_ energy released by others, but Noll's was the only energy he could actually _manipulate_. And Noll... well, Noll couldn't throw his energy at any other PK user without causing great physical or spiritual injury. Noll's powers were simply too strong to be 'caught' by anybody except Gene.

SPR had eventually declared that the twins' biological and spiritual link was the key to their PK seeding capabilities. Noll went a step further, calling it 'one power shared between two people.' In any case, there was no way for Noll to safely use his powers without Gene's help. And that was now impossible.

Not that Martin had given up without a fight – by the time Noll returned to England, SPR had several possible PK seeding partners lined up. But just like before, all attempts to absorb or manipulate Noll's energy were _unsuccessful_.

Lin grimaced. _Unsuccessful_ was Martin's euphemism for 'subject ended up electrocuted and twitching on the floor. '_Unsuccessful_ also encapsulated 'subject tossed across a room,' and 'subject screamed in pain whilst staring unseeingly at the emergency room ceiling.' A couple of prospective partners only wound up thrown to the mats after having been levitated... but Noll hadn't really been trying that day.

After five_ unsuccessful_ trials, Noll resolutely refused to continue. Though his official argument was that his powers were only compatible with Gene, Lin knew that Noll's underlying motive was to keep anyone else from being hurt. Martin reluctantly acquiesced (though his capitulation may have been less about Noll's resolve than a lack of options).

But Madoka maintained that Noll's incompatibility problem was not so absolute. She believed that the trials failed because Noll had no emotional connection with his proposed partners. After all, Noll and Gene had been very close emotionally, as well as biologically; there was no reason to discount emotional intimacy as a factor. Naturally, Oliver had scoffed at Madoka's theory – but everyone else agreed that her point had merit.

Lin stared unseeingly forward. Mai _definitely_ had an emotional connection with Noll - a connection which would likely become even stronger in the future. If Madoka was right about emotional closeness influencing an energy sync... then Noll's chance of successfully syncing with Mai was much greater.

That decided it. Lin extricated himself from the alcove, strode determinedly to Noll's office, and knocked on the door.

Surprisingly, two voices beckoned him in. Lin was waiting on Noll's annoyed-sounding growl, but Madoka's accompanying trill was unexpected. The _onmyouji_'s eyes found hers as he walked into the room. Maybe he should wait until she left...

"Koujo!" Madoka cried in delight. "Just the man I wanted to see! Would you please explain to Noll that –"

"We do not need your new 'gopher' to come along on next week's case," Naru denied firmly. "Just ignore her, Lin – or better yet, drag her out of here."

"_Noll,_" Madoka remonstrated.

"I guess it's fine if I tell both of you at once," Lin decided aloud. Madoka was actually better at reading people – if there was any hope that Noll would agree to testing, she would be able to tell. "After today's lesson," Lin began, "Taniyama-san discussed her PK abilities with my father."

"How unexpectedly upfront of her," Naru mused. He'd been having trouble getting anything PK-related out of Mai lately. It was quite frustrating - and suspicious.

"Hang on," Madoka cut in. "Your father spoke with Mai-chan? _On purpose?_" Her face was a mix of amazement and affront. "He still won't talk to _me_."

"If it makes you feel better," Lin answered impatiently. "He wants to have dinner with the two of us this evening. Anyway –"

"Why would_ that_ make me feel better?" Madoka shuddered.

"Madoka, shut up," Naru barked. "Lin, get on with it."

"Don't you order us –"

"It's important," Lin interjected roughly. His bristling girlfriend fell silent immediately. "My father asked Taniyama-san about the effects of PK overuse on her body." Lin risked a glance at Noll – only to find that his former student's face curiously shuttered. _Does Noll... already_ _know?_ "Taniyama-san replied that she didn't really worry about overuse, as her body can draw in spiritual energy from her surroundings."

Naru gripped his pen so hard his knuckles went white.

Across the room, Lin remembered his vision of Noll jamming a pen just like that one into his carotid artery. He winced internally, but persevered. "This implies that Taniyama-san's powers are more receptive in nature than we assumed," he finished.

"_Well_," Madoka said smugly. "There you go, Noll. Another sign that you should test with Mai-chan."

Lin regarded his girlfriend with confusion._ "Another_ sign?"

"Mai-chan told us the same thing," Madoka explained. Then she glared hard at Naru. "I was _ordered_ to remain silent on the matter. But you see, Noll? I _told_ you it would get out anyway. And surely you see the merit in _trying_ –"

"I don't," Naru interrupted tersely.

Madoka clucked her tongue. "Really?" she asked, in a voice dripping with disbelief. "Because I think you _do_, and you're just refusing to consider it."

"It doesn't matter," Naru snapped.

"Untrue," Madoka snapped back. "Because it's something you _should_ consider."

"_I completely disagree_." Oliver's expression could have frozen lava.

"But if Mai's abilities are receptive to foreign spiritual energy, then she could be receptive to _yours!_" the master ghost hunter cried frustratedly.

Lin frowned. Noll and Madoka were obviously revisiting an earlier argument... exactly how much had he missed during the 'Lin Drama?'

"Noll," Madoka continued, her voice suddenly gentle. "Wouldn't it be nice to able to use your powers again? I know you hate being relegated to the sidelines during attacks..."

Naru saw through this new tactic immediately. "Don't you _dare_ try to manipulate me into using Mai for my own ends," he hissed furiously.

"If you'd just be reasonable, I wouldn't _have_ to!" Madoka retorted.

"That's an interesting reversal of perspective," Naru said archly. "Aren't you constantly badgering me about seeing the 'human' side of our clients and research subjects? And now you want me to treat _Mai_ like an _expendable lab rat_, instead of a..." Naru paused, uncharacteristically unsure of what to say.

And naturally, Madoka jumped on it immediately. "Instead of a _what_, Noll?" she prompted.

Lin silently admired the dexterity with which Madoka could switch gears.

"A valued colleague," Naru finished lamely.

His former mentor groaned. "Cripes, Noll, can't you at least publicly upgrade Mai-chan to a _friend?_ I highly doubt you'd be this stroppy over a _colleague_."

Naru rolled his eyes. "You're missing the point," he growled.

"That's because you haven't made one!" Madoka rejoined harshly.

"_The_ _point_ is that you're inexplicably eager to _greatly _endanger Mai for no good reason," Naru summed up icily.

"We'd have a _very_ _good_ reason," Madoka contested. "And I have no doubt that Mai-chan herself would see it the same way."

"I agree," Lin noted calmly. "I'm certain Taniyama-san would be more than happy to participate in exploratory trials."

"_Of course_ she'd be happy to participate," Naru hissed. "She's stupid like that."

"She's _selfless_ like that," Madoka corrected.

"Being selflessly prepared to _sacrifice herself_ is stupid," Naru clarified.

"Don't be ridiculous, Noll," Madoka said testily. "You've never killed anyone; there's no reason to assume that would change. Besides, we'll eventually need to measure Mai's receptive capacity -"

"No, you won't," Naru muttered. "I'm sure Mai is _well_ aware of her receptive capacity."

Lin started in surprise. Did Noll also know about Mai's unlooked-for training in PK seeding maneuvers? "What do you mean?" The _onmyouji_ asked carefully.

"That explanation Mai offered about her PK's receptive nature... she spouted it out like a dictionary definition." Naru glared holes into the wall of his office. "In other words, she was repeating _someone_ _else's_ explanation."

"You mean... Gene?" Madoka's surprise leaked into her voice.

"_Of course_ I mean Gene!" Naru said furiously. "That's exactly something my idiot twin would do! He _would_ go and put stupid ideas in Mai's head, telling her she can _help_ me..."

Lin reckoned that Noll was too smart for his own good sometimes.

"But maybe she _can_ help you!" Madoka cried exasperatedly. "She would _want_ to!"

"Gene would easily recognize the similarity between Mai's PK and his own," Naru continued, ignoring Madoka. Then a sudden thought distracted him from his rant. "I wonder if Mai's receptivity is responsible for the recurrent vision of Gene's death."

Madoka mulled that over for a moment. "I doubt it, since Mai-chan had her first real death vision at Urado's mansion. That was long before the PK-MT appeared," she pointed out. "And besides, Noll, _you_ have emotion-syncing death visions, too – and your PK is definitely of the offensive variety."

"That's true," Naru agreed. Then his eyes hardened again. "Mai's willingness doesn't change anything," he stated resolutely. "I won't test with her."

"I can't believe you won't even_ consider_ it, Noll," Madoka reiterated. "In my educated opinion, Mai-chan is probably the best match we'll ever find. She's certainly the most promising candidate we've had in the last two years. You _have_ to realize that."

Naru twitched visibly. He _did_ realize that... but the thought of utilizing _Mai_ in such a manner made his blood run cold. "You aren't thinking this through," Naru hissed through his teeth. "Any sort of experimentation with my powers has the potential to seriously harm Mai."

"I think you're overstating the risk," Madoka replied truculently.

"I'm not. Go and review the tapes of past experiments – they should be lying right on top of the corresponding _hospital records_." Naru stared Madoka down. "But again, it's a moot point – you would need_ me_ to conduct tests with _my _powers, and I refuse utterly. It's too dangerous."

Virtually unnoticed by either arguing party, Lin sighed to himself. He had his answer – Noll would not agree to test with Mai. The _onmyouji_ had expected such a response... but he'd also hoped that a careful introduction to the topic and logical, dispassionate follow-up conversations would eventually bring Noll around. Unfortunately, Madoka had gotten to Noll first, and the repeated haranguing had rendered him complete inflexible on the subject. Lin groaned in vexation. This was going to take _weeks_ to fix...

"I wonder how Martin would feel about this," Madoka threatened.

Lin groaned again. _And now she's making it worse_.

Naru glared. "It doesn't matter how he'd feel."

"He's your _boss_, as well as your _father_."

"Martin cannot compel me to use PK on Mai." Naru's every word was coated in permafrost.

"Not _on_ Mai," Madoka insisted. "_With_ Mai."

"Wrong again," Naru countered angrily. "Receptiveness to outside energy does not a partner make."

The master ghost hunter threw Noll a genuinely confused look. "I'm sorry?"

"You should be," Naru drawled coolly. "But what I _meant_ was that just because Mai is able to absorb PK from _an_ external source, it doesn't mean that she can manipulate _my_ energy like Gene could. Like I keep telling you, that situation was a one-off."

"But Noll –" Lin tried.

"Gene could only do it because he was my twin," Naru persisted. "It was _one_ ability split between _two_ people. I got the bulk of the power, and Gene got what he referred to as the 'dimming switch.'"

"Noll –"

"Gene's body and spirit was made to handle my extremely strong energy; Mai's was not. If Mai could absorb even a _portion_ of my extremely strong energy, there is virtually zero chance that she could stay standing long enough to manipulate and throw it back. Our energies will never match, and I would never _uselessly endanger_ her in such a manner." Naru's voice rang with finality.

"Quite an impassioned speech," Madoka observed, her gaze piercing.

Naru's return glare was full of frosty contempt. "Your idiocy is that infuriating."

"Oliver." Lin's tone was equally hard. _Enough is enough_, he decided as the bickering pair finally acknowledged his existence. "Don't blame Madoka for trying. You and I _both_ know that you'll eventually hurt yourself again. We are only attempting to decrease the likelihood of your killing yourself on a case someday."

"By killing Mai instead?" Naru asked venomously.

"No one is asking you to unleash your full power on an unwilling subject," Lin defended. "We are talking about regulated experiments using small, controlled amounts of PK _with_ an extremely gifted psychic."

"And I don't know why you assume you'd kill Mai-chan," Madoka mused. "I was under the impression you had a great deal of control."

"That is immaterial."

"It's not," Lin and Madoka argued simultaneously.

"It _is_," Naru reiterated obstinately. "Again, Mai's psychic receptivity will never match my offensive capability. Ergo, testing would be fruitless."

"And you don't think Mai-chan could learn to sync with you over time?" Madoka asked. "That regular exposure to your energy could shift the manner in which her body deals with it?"

"No," Naru responded flatly. "That did not work with _any_ of the other psychics. I don't know what makes you think it would work now."

"This time it's _Mai_," Madoka said intensely.

"Exactly my point," Naru retorted. "_None_ of those trials ended well. Yet you seriously want to put _Mai_ through that?" His voice was both incredulous and forbidding.

"_No_," Madoka stated vehemently.

Naru's eyes narrowed. "Then what are you –"

"_My_ _point_," Madoka interrupted. "Is that I don't think you would end up hurting her! Think about it - Mai-chan is much closer to you than any of those other PK users were."

_All the more reason she shouldn't wind up twitching in pain on the floor of a lab_, Naru thought to himself.

"Therefore," the master ghost hunter continued, "The chances that Taniyama-san will be able to handle your energy are statistically much greater."

"That is not a fact," Naru objected. "That is an assumption – you are _assuming_ that emotional closeness has a direct correlation to the ability to manipulate another's PK energy. But there is no evidence to support that hypothesis – in fact, all data we have on the _rare_ successful trials reinforces that _only_ a biological or freak physiological connection between subjects will truly work."

"Or a freak _psychic_ connection," Lin jumped in. "And I'm sure you remember _that_ from the reports."

"It doesn't matter," Naru maintained.

"It does," Lin disagreed. "Taniyama-san has a strong psychic connection with Gene."

"But not with _me_." Naru's voice sounded resentful even to his own ears.

Madoka hid a smile behind her hand. _Jealous much, Noll?_ "What Lin is trying to say is that if Mai-chan has a psychic connection with Gene, logic suggests there is a much greater chance of a similar connection with his twin."

"And what if Mai does _not_ actually have a significant psychic connection to Gene?" Naru pointed out tartly. "Yes, she can access Gene's current location – but Mai is an astral walker. She could access _any_ spirit on the astral plane."

"Then how did Mai-chan manage to find Gene in the first place?" Madoka pressed. "His body was lost and his spirit was 'asleep.' How did she manage to contact him, if not through a strong psychic connection?"

Naru really had no answer for that, since he wasn't sure himself. His theory was that Mai had found Gene through her 'animal instinct.' Either it had steered her toward the person most able to help on cases... or it had recognized the possibility of deep emotional connection. Naru gritted his teeth. "Instinct," he finally said, "Is the most likely possibility."

"That's not definitive, Noll," Madoka argued. "Come to think of it, we should probably interview Mai-chan on the subject." She saw Noll's eyes narrow. Was he going to filibuster against a simple_ interview?_

"Mai has been... uncommunicative this week," Naru revealed unwillingly. "All of a sudden, she doesn't want to answer questions for my paper. Ever since the day she demonstrated a visible level of PK for you, Lin... she's been acting strange." Naru's lips thinned. "Like she's afraid of something."

Lin pursed his lips. Mai was most likely afraid of her 'extra' training with Gene coming to light – but that wasn't something to talk about now. Noll looked ready to crack as it was. And if he was going to block any sort of testing, then Lin would have to get creative.

Playing PK matchmaker for Noll was probably going to involve Lin's training Mai in PK seeding techniques... right under Noll's nose.

_Might as well start the set-up now_. "Maybe she's just nervous about school," Lin suggested in an even tone. "You saw how frightened Taniyama-san was about starting at Cambridge."

"Yes," Naru agreed. "But that only lasted a few days. Mai has been fine since the first seminar."

Madoka grinned. "Martin says that she and Yasu were terrific."

"Exactly," Naru replied (a small flower of pride blossoming within him). "Mai isn't nervous about school anymore – so what is causing her continued reticence?"

Lin remained silent. Mai certainly hadn't been _reticent_ with his father today... but Lin suspected that was the result of giddy nerves run amok.

Hopefully, Mai's nerves would stick around long enough to talk some more. And on that note... "Noll, I actually came here looking for your father," Lin lied. "I need to speak with him, so if you'll excuse me –"

"Don't tell him about Mai's receptivity," Naru said quickly.

The _onmyouji_ was surprised by the discernible panic in his former student's voice. "Alright," Lin agreed. He hadn't been planning to tell Martin, anyway.

Naru didn't need Lin's surprised look or Madoka's knowing smirk to tell him he'd screwed up. He'd sounded almost _pleading _just now... Naru hadn't yet come to terms with the troublesome reactions Mai inspired in him; involving outsiders in his internal morass was unacceptable. "Get out," he barked. "You've both interrupted my work for long enough."

"Not nearly long enough," Madoka contradicted, "But I'll let it go for today." Maybe if she let Noll stew in it alone for a while, he'd come to an epiphany about something.

And Lin was only too eager to leave the room. He needed to firm up his plan of action.

-0O0-

The _onmyouji_ waited until Mai decided to leave the Davis house that night. Yasuhara had gone out on a date, so she was leaving alone. Lin quickly volunteered to drive her home, and stood patiently as Mai made a last round of tea for Naru and Luella before saying goodnight.

He was quiet as they walked to the car, and quiet as he backed down the driveway and set off down the street. Perhaps he was over-thinking this, but Lin wanted to wait until they were moving too fast for Mai to jump out and escape.

Finally, Lin drove the car onto a main road. He then reached over and turned the radio off, much to Mai's dismay.

"Lin-saaaan," she moaned. "I like that song."

"Taniyama-san," Lin said gently. It wouldn't do to scare her again. "We need to talk."

-0O0-

AN: You guys are just the best. Every time I got stuck (which was a lot), I went back and read the reviews and the messages, and found the motivation to keep on going. We have obviously reached a turning point in the story, and I wasn't really sure how I wanted to handle it. Not to mention, the pieces of this chapter just wouldn't come together:/

But they did eventually (sort of), and anyway, I hope it came out okay:)


	31. Chapter 31

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Manga 12 would be out in English.  
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**Chapter 31 – Standing on the Edge of a Cliff**

-0O0-

Mai froze completely, hands gripping her school bag and eyes riveted to the dashboard. "T-talk about what, Lin-san?" she asked as innocently as possible.

But Lin was not having any fake innocence-mongering right now. He needed to get Mai talking before they reached her apartment. "You know what," he replied inflexibly.

The teen psychic bit her lip. Maybe if she ascertained exactly what he was after, she could protect the Big Secret. How would a master of deflection like Naru get out of this? "I'm sorry, but you'll have to be more specific," she replied tartly, adopting the surly tone Naru used to shut down a conversation.

Lin almost smiled at Mai's sudden attitude change. How cagy of her. "I apologize," he said softly, hoping to throw her off balance. It worked – Mai whipped to face him, her surprised eyes scrutinizing him closely as if looking for signs of possession. Lin decided to strike while her armor was down. "I'll be more specific. We need to talk about the receptive nature of your powers... with regard to that unexplained addition to your _qigong_ calisthenics."

Mai threw Lin a genuinely confused look. "What addition?"

The _onmyouji_ kept his face carefully blank as he threw down his piece de resistance. "That interesting 'catching' maneuver that I'd never seen you do before."

The effect was immediate. "_What?_" Mai gasped, eyes wide and confused. "I really did my seedi– ah, _something different_ yesterday?"

"If you like, I can point it out on the video tomorrow morning," Lin offered. He had told Noll and the professor that he'd forgotten to turn on the camera yesterday; in truth, the video was locked in his desk drawer.

Mai's eyes only bugged out more at the mention of video evidence. She'd forgotten that Martin had requested that all of her training be videotaped (he was very disappointed not to have a recording of Mai's PK attack on the lab wall). Oh no, what if Lin showed _Naru_ the video?

A quick glance at Mai made Lin realize he'd pushed too hard. She looked like a cat caught in the corner of a room on fire. The _onmyouji_ reminded himself not to get confrontational; Mai needed to see him as an ally. Gritting his teeth, Lin summoned up his best Madoka-in-supportive-mode impersonation. "I am your instructor," he said slowly. "If... you need to talk about..." Lin rolled his eyes; he was no good at this sort of thing. "I am _your_ instructor," he repeated. "What I tell Martin – or _anyone_ _else_ – about our lessons... is subject to our mutual discretion."

He could feel Mai staring. "Lin-san..." she said faintly. "Are you saying you'll keep secrets for me?"

"Are you saying you have secrets to keep?" Lin asked soberly.

Mai studied her gloved hands as if she expected the right answer to be written on them somewhere. _In a way_, she supposed, _it WAS written on them_. The young psychic flexed her silk-covered fingers. She'd apparently made a mistake yesterday with her exercises (darn that Lin Senior), and now Lin knew _way_ more than he should.

However... it might not be doomsday quite yet. Lin wouldn't offer to be her confidant if he were planning on selling her out to Naru. Lin wasn't much for lying; if he said he would keep her secret, he would.

And honestly, Mai needed some help. Gene wanted to keep the transfer a secret until Mai could use it to help Naru, which would prove that she and the transfer were necessary for Naru's safety. However, Mai was almost positive that her current experience level wouldn't be enough to partner with Naru. In order to ensure a successful demonstration, Mai would need more training.

After all, the only instruction she'd had in PK seeding had been provided (sporadically) by Gene. And though Gene was talented and knowledgeable, he was not a master or a qualified _qigong_ instructor. Lin was both. She _should_ tell him about the seeding training.

Decision made, Mai offered a silent apology to Gene. "You probably know already, don't you?" she asked Lin softly.

"If I did, I wouldn't be asking," Lin replied evenly. "But I do have a good idea. And I _certainly_ know you've been hiding something."

Mai chuckled harshly. "Telling you is tantamount to telling Naru... or so I thought."

"Like I said, _you_ are my student," Lin said carefully. "If there is something you need to discuss with me –"

"Lin-san," Mai said intensely, "_You_ _can't tell Naru_."

Lin rolled his eyes. He _wasn't going_ to tell Noll – which Mai would already know if she'd let him finish a sentence. "Taniyama-san..."

"No, really!" Mai's panic bubbled over – if she was really going to do this, she needed reassurance. "You saw how badly Naru freaked when he found out Gene was my spirit guide! And _that _wasn't half as big as –" Mai stopped, pressing her lips together before they loosed something she couldn't take back.

The_ onmyouji_ sighed grimly. "So it's bad, then."

Mai slumped back in her seat. "It's _not_ bad. It's _good_," she insisted. "But... Naru would think it was bad."

Lin's mental vision of Mai falling to the floor unconscious swam before his eyes. "Noll has exceptional judgment," Lin muttered quietly, cautioning himself more than Mai.

His student scoffed. "You're not selling the 'confidant' proposal very well."

"You're not giving me a reason to," Lin returned.

"Fine," Mai grunted. She screwed up her face and pushed the first secret out. "GenetaughtmeaboutPKseeding."

It took Lin a moment to separate Mai's super-fast garble into comprehensible words. "Ah," he finally said. It was just as he (and Noll) suspected. "And he gave you some practical training?"

Finally, an answer as to how much Lin knew! Mai could work with this – she could talk to Lin about training without revealing the actual source of her powers!

Suddenly, her arms started burning. Mai realized she'd been unconsciously clenching her fingers over her crossed forearms – she must have gripped the scars too tightly. Mai grimaced in pain – though the hot tingling she felt now wasn't anywhere_ near_ the level of pain she'd experienced during the transfer...

Having parked the car, Lin turned to study his silent student. She'd never confirmed whether Gene had taught her those moves (though he couldn't imagine she'd learned them anywhere else). "Taniyama-san."

At the sound of her name, Mai snapped out of her haze. "Yes, Lin-san?" she chirped, trying to sound as normal as possible.

"We're here," he replied, gesturing toward the front of Mai's apartment building.

"Oh," Mai said stupidly. "Um, well, thanks for the ride, and I'll talk to you tom–"

"I'm going up with you," Lin cut across her. "We're not done."

"Yeah, I figured that," Mai murmured.

-0O0-

"Tea, Lin-san?" The teen psychic asked cordially. She threw her coat onto a nearby chair, and swept a mess of notes and Cambridge assignments off the coffee table.

Lin almost laughed at Mai's dogged hospitality. She'd been like that since the days of SPR Japan. No matter how curt or openly hostile Lin and Naru became, Mai was always ready with tea and a smile. Though some days, her offer was gritted through annoyed teeth... "Yes, thank you, Taniyama-san."

As Mai bustled off, Lin deposited himself onto the couch and stared unseeingly at the living room wall. Would he really go through with this?

Even if he and Mai could accomplish the nigh insurmountable feat of training under Noll's nose, it might all be for nothing. _However promising the prospect_, Lin reminded himself, _the lack of biological or psychic connection between Noll and Mai remains an issue_. Noll was (unfortunately) correct about that. Although the combination of receptivity and emotional linkage would probably enable Mai to absorb Noll's PK-ST better than most, it was virtually impossible that she would also be able to manipulate the energy like Gene could. Madoka may be ignoring that potential problem, but Lin (like Noll), had too much experience with PK and its peculiarities to be that optimistic.

But _un_like Noll, Lin had hope that such a connection could be established in the future. Noll could argue instinct if he wanted to, but in Lin's opinion, there was more than enough evidence to infer a strong connection between Mai and Gene. Mai saw Gene regularly in dreams as her spirit guide, they had apparently practiced PK together, and most importantly, Mai repeatedly experienced Gene's death. Mai had even admitted that a strong spiritual syncing with Gene had caused the cyclic vision.

However, though psychic history with Gene increased the odds that Mai could connect with Noll, it was still only a possibility. If it turned out that Mai couldn't bond her abilities with Noll's... The _onmyouji_ sighed heavily. There was nothing they could do about a lack of special psychic connection.

Lin pursed his lips. Technically... if were Gene still alive, there would be _something_ they could do.

But_ that_ was far too dangerous, too potentially_ lethal_, to seriously consider. Besides, if Gene were still alive, it wouldn't be necessary. Come to think of it, Gene had only even possessed the ability to conduct such a procedure for a few short days before he was... killed.

Even years later, the thought filled Lin with remorse. After all, he was the one who'd told Gene about the marks... and provided the name of a Japanese _onmyouji_ capable of applying them. Though Gene had survived the marking process, and the hit-and-run had been days later, Lin couldn't help but feel guilty. Gene might never have gone to Japan if it weren't for Lin. He certainly wouldn't have gone alone – Gene had only insisted on flying solo because he knew that Luella and Noll would never approve of the marking idea. Lin's gut twisted.

On the other hand, if Gene had just _waited _another damn couple of months, Lin would have been free to accompany him. Gene was always so _impulsive_...

Just like the person holding a steaming cup of tea in front of his face. Lin accepted the cup from Mai with a nod of thanks.

Her easy smile was throwing him off again... could he really ask this of her? Despite his outward lack of warmth, Lin did actually care for Mai. He would feel awful if she wound up hurt (or worse). He already felt awful about Gene's death, and he'd only helped plan the trip to Japan. If Mai ended up in the hospital, it would be directly due to Lin's interference.

Mai watched Lin's internal struggle over the rim of her tea cup. Was he thinking about the best way to question her? Mai felt proud for a moment – apparently, her ability to keep secrets had improved to the point that _Lin_ needed a strategy.

But it didn't matter. She was going to talk, anyway. "So... yeah," Mai began. "Gene taught me about PK seeding."

Lin raised an eyebrow. After all her escapism, Mai was _initiating_ this conversation? "For what purpose?" he asked carefully.

Mai grasped the cup very hard. "Since my PK abilities are... very similar to Gene's, he thought that I could... take his place as Naru's PK partner."

Somehow, hearing Mai say it out loud made Lin feel guiltier. "The best way to prove to Noll that you can handle being his PK partner is to be as prepared as possible."

Mai raised unusually clear, hard eyes to her teacher. "I agree," she said firmly.

Lin stared right back, and made his decision. "I thought you might. In that case, I suggest we broaden the scope of your training – to include PK manipulation exercises."

Mai nodded.

"While your receptivity and current skills may enable you to catch, hold, and release Noll's PK-ST," Lin continued, "The real trick is to increase and manipulate it. Luckily, you can already manipulate your own PK-MT, which gives us a head start." Lin paused; Mai had a strange look on her face. "However," he continued slowly, "Manipulating your own energy is much easier than handling someone else's. Your body is already accustomed to the specific pulse and charge of its own energy."

Mai pressed her lips together. Technically, she manipulated someone else's PK all the time. "Right," she said tightly.

Lin frowned, confused by Mai's attitude. He'd expected her to be fighting for the chance to help Noll. "Taniyama-san, if you don't want to do this –"

"No!" Mai cried. "Of course I want to! I was just... thinking about something."

Something in her tone made Lin raise an eyebrow. "Thinking about what?"

Mai just stared out the window, absentmindedly rubbing her scars.

Lin's eyes followed the motion of Mai's hands down her gloved arms. "You'll have to attain the greatest level of control you can, as Noll's energy is much stronger – and more potentially damaging – than your own. Though you already have a surprising amount of control," he continued fairly (Mai blushed), "Gene worked on his for years. I don't think we'll have nearly that much time."

Mai looked up in horror. "Do you think Naru's going to use his powers soon?" she asked worriedly. "I know that there's been a lot of violence at the location for the next case. And things flying around... oh, nooo."

"Taniyama-san, calm down." Lin rolled his eyes. "That's not what I meant. Although I always watch Noll extra closely during cases with highly volatile spirits, I don't believe he'll be more apt to use his powers on this case than on another." Unless Mai managed to get herself in trouble again, of course. Then all bets were off. "What I meant was that I don't think we can keep Noll in the dark for very long."

Mai nodded sagely. "That's true. I'm almost surprised he doesn't know already."

Lin gave her a rare smile. "Madoka's no slouch at sleuthing, either," he noted.

The _qigong_ student was surprised. "You're not going to tell Madoka?"

Her mentor sighed. "I'm not sure it would be wise. She doesn't exactly have a great track record with regard to this matter." At Mai's questioning look, Lin continued. "Noll, Madoka, and I had a conversation about your receptiveness the other day," he revealed. "It didn't go well, and that was mostly Madoka's fault."

Mai grimaced. "Madoka asked Naru to work with me, didn't she?"

"Yes," Lin answered, matching her subdued tone.

"And Naru said no." It wasn't a question; Mai could envision Naru's response to such a request quite clearly.

"To put it mildly."

Mai looked very sad. "Of course he doesn't want me as his partner." Like she'd told Gene countless times, Naru wouldn't accept a replacement so easily. "I'm not Gene."

Lin barely refrained from rolling his eyes. For someone so excellent at reading people – psychically and otherwise – Mai sure was thickheaded about Noll. "That's not it," he said firmly. "Noll does not like the odds. He won't risk injuring you with his PK."

Mai's eyes were deep wells. "Gene said something like that." Naru's twin had scoffed at her 'replacement' theory, repeatedly telling Mai she was way off base.

"Gene would know best." Lin attempted to stare the truth into Mai's head.

It must have worked – Mai smiled softly. "Well, he's not a robot, right?" she asked, twisting her hands in her skirt.

"No," Lin replied shortly.

An awkward silence hung in the air for a few moments. Mai broke the tension by getting up. "Would you like a refill?" A black-gloved hand whisked his empty cup off the table.

"Yes, thank you." Lin found himself staring at Mai's covered arms again... and a vision of Gene pulling up his sleeve and showing off his new tattoos swam before Lin's eyes. Hn. _That_ would greatly improve Mai's control in a relatively short period of time.

But could Lin really suggest that Mai undergo the marking process, after what had happened to Gene in Japan? Mai would have to travel to Japan and visit the same person... Lin's mouth settled into a grim line. It wouldn't be like last time, he decided. If Mai decided to go the marking route, she would NOT go alone.

Which meant Lin would _have_ to tell Madoka what he and Mai were up to - there was no way Lin could handle a week-long trip alone with Mai. He remembered those SPR car rides all too well.

Besides, sneaking three people off on a clandestine trip to Japan without alerting Noll was a task much more suited to Madoka. She was better at subterfuge.

Lin nodded to himself. "Taniyama-san." Mai turned back to face him. "If you want to improve your control quickly... there is another method we could try."

-0O0-

For the nth time in the last hour, Naru found his gaze resting on the hall doorway. Mai and Lin had vanished through that doorway together... Mai waving cheerfully, and Lin looking determined.

_Determined to do what?_ Naru wondered silently. _Determined to drive Mai home?_ Lin did that all the time. _Determined to drive Mai home without having to speak to her?_ Naru smirked. For all Mai's whining about Naru's disallowance of 'fun' in the car, Lin was actually _more_ militant about driving in silence.

"Noll?"

With that in mind, maybe Naru should ensure that Mai sat in the front on the way to case locations. Perhaps the combination of his and Lin's oppressive presences would keep Mai quieter. And maybe if Mai were quieter, then Yasuhara and Madoka would follow... never mind. Wishful thinking.

Mai should still sit next to him, though.

"Noll?"

And while on the topic of upcoming cases... it looked like Mai was going to have to come along to the Banderson house. Naru felt (irritatingly) guilty about dragging her off on a case right after the start of term, especially since this case was likely to take at least a week. But all the notes he'd read -

"_Noll_."

Martin's impatient-sounding voice snapped Naru out of his ruminations. "Yes, Father?"

"About the Banderson case..." Martin started.

Naru's lips twitched. "Yes, my thoughts exactly."

"Of course," Luella muttered. "My two idiot scientists, whose shared brains run on one track."

"I suppose I do have quite enough brains to share," Naru noted smugly.

Luella groaned.

"Noll, are you inferring that I lack the intellect to operate under my own capacity?" Martin asked amusedly.

"No, that's what Mother is inferring." Smirk.

"She was talking about you, too," Martin pointed out.

"Mother never specified which of us contributed the greater percentage of shared intelligence," Naru countered.

"So you're running with your mother's insulting idea that I'm a lack-wit," Martin affirmed. "And then compounding the offense by suggesting that I need to borrow intelligence from my son?"

"A cogent re-statement of the main points," Naru drawled, aping one of Martin's favorite professorial maxims.

Martin huffed jokingly. "Then tell me, my over-endowed son – would you recommend that I excuse Taniyama and Yasuhara from classes for the duration of the Banderson case?"

"Martin!" Luella cried. "They shouldn't skip school for SPR!"

"Talk to the_ brains_ of the operation," Martin said, gesturing to Naru.

Naru stared at Mai's empty chair. "While I'm aware that the timing is unfortunate," he admitted, "All of the preliminary information suggests that we need Mai on this case." He turned to face his adopted father. "Excuse Mai for a week, but Yasuhara needn't skip."

Martin nodded slowly. That was his take on the situation, as well – he'd just wondered how Noll would handle the situation. Noll would be running SPR in the future, after all. "I agree. Evidence suggests the presence of spirits, so Taniyama's skills as a medium will likely be required. And what with all the chairs flying about, you may need her PK deflection skills." Not wanting Noll to dwell on the functional uselessness of his own PK powers, Martin continued quickly. "Yasuhara can stay behind and keep good notes for Taniyama. Besides, Madoka's new assistant needs a trial run in the field – Gregory can fill in for Yasuhara."

Naru nodded slowly. Gregory seemed to be a no-nonsense person; such an attitude would be a welcome foil for Madoka. "That sounds reasonable."

"Indeed," Martin returned. "So it's settled, then."

"No, it isn't," Luella interjected. "You should _not_ be dragging Mai out of school to hunt ghosts."

"Mai is in school for parapsychology," Naru pointed out. "If anything, this would be considered advanced fieldwork."

"She already has plenty of 'advanced fieldwork' under her belt," Luella replied acidly. "That sounds like special pleading to me, Noll."

Naru narrowed his eyes at the accusation that he was 'pleading' in any way. "Mai's chief contributions to parapsychology will likely be as a psychic in the field," he noted loftily. "Not to mention," he continued, "Mai would almost certainly rather go ghost hunting than sit in class while everyone else is ghost hunting."

Luella's eyes widened. Was her son actually considering and _campaigning_ for someone else's happiness? She resisted the urge to check the window for burning chunks of falling sky. "I expect you're right," Luella conceded (careful not to show her inner glee at Noll's consideration for Mai's feelings). "Mai _does _enjoy ghost hunting."

"That she does," Martin agreed readily. He was impressed; Noll really couldn't have picked a better argument to neutralize his mother. "I'll inform Taniyama of the situation tomorrow after classes."

"Too bad Mai left early tonight," Luella drawled sarcastically. "She could have spent an extra few hours discussing the case file." Maybe she'd take Mai out this weekend; Martin and Noll were bad influences.

Martin laughed at Luella's words, but Naru frowned.

Mai _had_ left early, hadn't she? She usually stayed until nine or ten... but then again, it _was_ Thursday. Naru's eyes fell to Mai's empty chair again.

Thursday evening was slotted as a 'recovery night' in Mai's weekly calendar – after Wednesday's training and testing, and Thursday's long class schedule, Mai would generally collapse into her favorite chair in the Davis sitting room and nap the night away.

"Well, Lin said he had things to do tonight," Martin reasoned. "And he was Mai's ride."

_That's right_, Naru remembered. It was_ Lin_ who wanted to leave early. Not exactly surprising – Lin was an early riser, and since Madoka was out with a girlfriend tonight, the _onmyouji_ took the opportunity to head home early. But Martin had just said... "What 'things' did Lin have to do?" Naru asked, Lin's very determined expression flashing in his mind.

"He didn't say," Martin replied offhandedly, not noticing Naru's tense posture.

Luella noticed it, though. "Maybe he's taking Mai out for coffee," she suggested slyly. "As a reward for impressing Lin Senior." She bit back a grin as Noll sat straight up in his chair and stared accusingly at the empty hallway door. "I guess you could call her... if you're worried about Lin's intentions."

Naru threw his mother a disparaging glare. "Don't be ridiculous."

Luella's eyes twinkled. "Sorry I misunderstood, Noll. You looked worried."

Naru scoffed, but was forced to acknowledge the obvious upset in his stomach. The feeling was... not dissimilar to worry.

As if on cue, a niggling voice in Naru's mind called for his attention, once again yelling something _inconvenient_ that Naru really, really didn't want to hear.

After all... there was a very simple explanation as to why Naru would be worried about Mai going out for coffee with a guy. Even if it was just Lin. _Especially_ if it was just Lin – there was no _logical_ need to worry about Mai going out at night with a trusted, romantically attached friend.

Naru ground his teeth, forcing the irritatingly rational voice back into the depths of his mind. _That couldn't be it_, he told himself firmly. It couldn't be _that_. That would be extremely... _inconvenient_ for him. (Naru refused to describe it any other way, even in his own head.)

Not to mention it would be extremely _foolish_ of him, and Oliver Davis was _not_ a foolish person.

But Oliver Davis _was_ a scientist... and a scientist couldn't responsibly ignore the mounting evidence.

-0O0-

Mai met Lin's assessing gaze. "Another method?"

"It's... extreme," he cautioned. "And supposedly painful."

Mai gave a thin laugh. She doubted this new method was anywhere near as painful as the transfer. "I have a very high tolerance for pain," she replied enigmatically.

_Good_, Lin thought. Between the marking process and learning to absorb and throw Noll's PK, Mai would _need_ a high tolerance for pain. "This method involves placing permanent markings on the skin, meant to draw and reinforce PK-MT down spiritual pathways," he informed her.

Mai's hand stopped halfway to her tea cup. Even her thoughts froze.

"The markings are drawn by an _onmyouji_ and then tattooed into the skin, and finally 'activated' with a spell." Lin studied Mai's shocked face. "Gene underwent the process himself. He described it as... unpleasant, but he insisted that it greatly improved his control."

Mai knew she should say something. Instead, she only wound up staring down at her forearms...

Where the described marks already lay.

On the other side of the couch, Lin regarded Mai silently and wondered whether he'd been right to suggest the marks. The night after Gene's marking experience, Lin had suggested a video chat in order to check out the marks for himself. The obvious pain in Gene's eyes and the labored movements of his body were still crystal clear in Lin's memory. It would likely be just as painful for Mai.

The _onmyouji _also knew that Noll would be completely against such an agonizing procedure. But Mai was tough when she had to be. And she _would_ need the best control possible if she wanted to be Noll's PK seeding partner.

Besides, Lin wasn't dragging Mai off to Japan and forcing her under the needle. He was only giving her options. In fact, Lin was surprised that Mai didn't already know about Gene's marks. Gene had taught Mai to control her PK-MT; it was strange that the topic had never come up. Mai even focused her PK through her forearms, just like Gene had...

Lin suddenly wondered whether Mai's scars would interfere with the drawing/marking process. His eyes fell to her gloves. She never took them off, did she? Mai even wore those gloves to sleep; Lin had noticed them as she shot up in bed upon awakening from her death dream.

The scars must really be something, Lin assumed, if they prompted such an obsessively fastidious deviation from Mai's normally free-spirited, skin-baring taste in clothes. She'd always worn short skirts to the office, and often sported completely work-inappropriate attire on cases. But even when a nightgown-clad Mai had torn into a kitchen full of grown men, her forearms were covered up securely.

Then again, it wasn't abnormal for Mai to conceal unhappy things. SPR had been a team for months before she'd told anyone she was an orphan. There was also her extremely unhelpful habit of 'forgetting' to tell SPR about case-specific astral dreaming.

As Mai continued to stare silently out the window (Lin was glad that she was giving this matter the serious deliberation it deserved), her nervous fingers traced curving paths down her gloved arms. Lin reckoned the scars must be large as well as disfiguring – those gloves covered the entire forearm area.

Not for the first time, Lin wondered _how_ she'd gotten them. Mai had revealed she'd sustained the injuries during a case with TTMPI – but that was all they'd gotten out of her since that second night in England. "Mai?" Lin asked idly. "You focus your PK through your arms. Does that bother the scars at all?" If it did, the marking might not even work.

Lin did not expect this question to cause a freak-out. So as Mai whipped around to face him, eyes wide and mouth open, he raised a puzzled brow.

"Wha – um, well..." she stammered.

He had definitely hit a nerve. _Why would that question bother her? _As she struggled for words, Mai's hands clutched at her gloved arms. Which was apparently a bad idea – Lin saw her wince in pain before loosing her grip and rubbing her arms gently.

And suddenly, the memory of a different pale hand rubbing a black sleeve assaulted Lin's inner eye. During their video chat, Gene had massaged the marks underneath his shirt, bemoaning that the tattooed skin stung quite a bit... and joking that he'd have to wear long sleeves forever, as the marks were very noticeable and he didn't want to be mistaken for a hoodlum.

Lin stared hard into his tea, his brain finally piecing together the puzzle he'd been trying to solve for months.

_Click_. Mai's unwillingness to share anything about how she'd gotten the 'scars.'

_Click_. The black gloves which constantly covered the 'scars.'

_Click_. Mai's thorough dedication to training her powers, when at first she'd been almost afraid of them.

_Click_. The remarkable amount of control Mai had over her PK-MT, especially for someone so new to the discipline.

_Click_. Mai's knowledge that her receptivity could be useful to Noll.

_Click_. Her unforeseen training in PK seeding.

_Click_. _Click_. _Click_.

The truth hit Lin like a freight train. His eyes swiveled to Mai's arms and locked on the omnipresent gloves. "Mai," he said slowly, almost dazedly.

The teen psychic's head swung back to face the _onmyouji_. Had Lin just addressed her by her _first name?_ Mai grinned triumphantly... and then processed the look in her teacher's eyes. His expression was somewhere between wonder and horror.

"Those scars..." Lin murmured, "Aren't scars at all, are they?"

Mai's mouth gaped open in horror.

"They're _marks_," Lin continued, still in shock.

Mai fought the urge to run... but underneath the unbroken mental scream of _W__hat do I do? What do I do? What do I do?,_ an unexpected thought crawled into Mai's head. _Why not just come clean?_

While the notion of confession still terrified her, Mai had many questions about what she and Gene had done. Wen-_sifu_, her first _onmyouji_ master, had answered some of them while he was training her to participate in the transfer. Gene had answered some, as well. However, Mai was still unsure about a few things – such as why she had puckered scars for marks rather than the clean, black lines Gene had sported. She and Gene had some guesses – but Lin might _know_. He might also know whether a full emergency connection between herself and Naru was even possible without their practicing together.

"They're... complicated," Mai replied truthfully. _Should I do it?_

"Mai." This time Lin's tone was demanding. "They're _marks_."

"Are you asking me or telling me?" Mai asked, her nerves getting the best of her.

Lin glared. "Both."

Mai let out a hysterical giggle... and decided to go for broke. "Ironically enough, that's my answer – both."

The _onmyouji_ raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry?"

"Both... they're both scars _and_ marks," Mai said slowly.

Now Lin was confused. "What do you mean?"

Mai bit her lip. "They're both," she repeated softly, fiddling with the bow on one of her gloves.

"How can they be both?" Lin's eyes locked on the gloves.

"Like this," Mai replied, her hand tugging at the tight black fabric above her elbow. Closing her eyes (like a chicken), Mai pulled the protective covering from her arm.

Koujo Lin stared in horrified fascination. From wrist to elbow, Mai's arms were covered in livid, puckered scars. But the scars weren't at all random – they curved along her arms in very recognizable patterns. Patterns meant to direct and concentrate PK energy into useful _qigong_ maneuvers.

"Marks," Lin breathed. "I wasn't sure how to get them done without arousing Noll's suspicions. I figured I'd have to sneak you off to Japan, somehow..."

Mai's smile was almost a grimace. "Well, Gene and I solved that problem for you," she said thinly. "It's already done."

Unable to help himself, Lin reached out and took Mai's wrist, running his fingers along the marks. He could feel the power humming beneath them. "The spell was performed correctly," he intoned. "So _this_ is why your PK-MT is so well controlled. I had wondered, given the erratic nature of your other abilities."

Mai winced at the justifiable criticism. "Yeah, my astral walking sometimes has more control over me than I do over it." Though deliberate astral projection was Mai's most highly developed skill, she was still pulled into a lot of projections without her permission. She also really sucked at 'waking up' out of them.

In fact, Gene was annoyingly persistent about the 'waking up' issue lately. His sudden harping on the subject was strange; her spirit guide had never before expressed impatience over guiding Mai through her dreams. And Mai knew that Gene was happy to be of any real-world assistance... so if he was trying to make Mai more self-sufficient, it was likely because he expected not to be around much longer.

Mai wasn't sure whether to feel happy or sad at this possibility. She was also unsure about whether to go to Naru with her suspicions.

"But... I don't understand."

Her teacher's voice called Mai out of her troubled thoughts. "What was that, Lin-san?"

"I don't understand... _why_ are they scars? The marks are supposed to be _tattooed_ into the skin. I've never seen something like this before."

Mai's breath hitched, knowing that this was the moment to confess. But the truth stuck to her tongue, gluing her mouth shut.

Then Lin continued. "Did your skin have a reaction to the ink?"

Mai could have laughed. Lin had provided a perfect excuse, a believable way out of telling the whole truth... but something, maybe her instincts, rang in warning. She would be wasting the perfect opportunity – here was a learned person - a friend - who could help her and offer her guidance. A friend who had already expressed the desire to hide all this PK drama from Naru. And though Gene was an able adviser, she only saw him on cases - Mai needed a constant source of help and training if she wanted their crazy plan to work.

And though telling someone about the transfer was directly against Gene's orders, Mai was tired of keeping the whole mess to herself. Mai had never been comfortable with lying... and despite Gene's assurances that secrecy was the only way, she worried that lying to Naru about the transfer might end up causing as bad a fallout as would telling him.

Lin watched his student think through whatever heavy thoughts were on her mind. Whatever had caused the scarring, it obviously wasn't an allergic reaction to tattoo ink.

_No_, Lin thought, watching Mai unconsciously trace her gloved finger along an angrily red scar-mark. _It was something else_. And something significant, from the lengthy consideration Mai was giving her response. A _frisson_ of dread wormed its way through Lin's gut. He didn't have Mai's instincts, but he had the distinct feeling that it would be something problematic.

The foreboding mood was not aided by Mai's taking a deep, preparatory breath and clenching her fists for fortitude. "Okay," she said finally. "I'll tell you, but you have to_ promise_ not to tell Naru. And... know that we only did it because we really thought it was necessary."

_Oh yes,_ Lin groaned inwardly._ This was going to be bad_.

-0O0-

AN: I know, I know, but I had to cut it there! Otherwise, the chapter would have been _way_ too long. Plus, I didn't want to just throw the explanation of the transfer onto the end of a chapter. I'm pretty sure most of the readers have guessed what it's all about, anyway, but I wanted to give the titular issue a more prominent place, lol.

Anyway, so Naru's getting a clue, Lin's getting the truth, Mai's getting an accomplice, and SPR is going on a case.

By the way, you guys are the best (and most patient) readers ever! Last chapter got the most reviews yet!

And last, but most awesomely - this story has inspired some fan art! I got a request from **NarcolepticRooster** to draw some of the scenes from the story. I'm really quite thrilled, and I'll keep you guys posted:)


	32. Chapter 32

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Manga 12 would be out in English.**

**Chapter 32 – Breaking Confidences**

-0O0-

Lin pinched the bridge of his nose and summoned his patience. "Fine, Taniyama-san – I _promise_ not to tell Noll about whatever it is you did." The _onmyouji_ fixed his student with an imperative stare. "Now get on with it."

Mai quirked an eyebrow. "Taniyama-san?" she repeated disappointedly. "Didn't you _just_ start calling me Mai?"

Her interrogator's glare sharpened. "You are stalling, _Mai-san._"

"Better than 'Taniyama-san,' I guess," Mai sighed. "And I _know_ I'm stalling. It's just... I've kept quiet for so long..."

Lin thought about the day he told his parents that he was seriously dating Madoka. He'd spent half his time in China screwing up the nerve and the right words. "I understand," he admitted quietly.

Mai flashed him a quick smile. "Maybe if I start at the beginning, it'll be easier." She clutched a couch pillow to her chest like a safety blanket. "So... about six months after you guys left for England, Gene appeared in one of my dreams. I was on a case with Bou-san at the time... we weren't TTMPI yet, but Ayako and Bou-san sometimes brought me along when they had jobs. I missed ghost hunting," she confessed shyly.

Wanting to keep her talking, Lin managed an upward mouth-twitch.

"Anyway, I was having a psychic dream," Mai continued steadily. "One minute, the spirit was screaming at her mother for throwing out a stash of drugs... and the next thing I knew, Gene was waving at me in the realm of lingering spirits."

Lin wondered absently whether Noll knew any of this.

"Gene said he was still my spirit guide, since finding his body wasn't his _only_ unfinished business. And before you ask," Mai preempted, holding her hand out defensively, "No, Gene won't tell me what he's waiting for. Well, I_ do_ know one thing, but... whatever. To make a long story short -"

Her instructor raised an eyebrow.

"Or short_er_," Mai amended, "Gene started helping me with my astral projection abilities. I also made my first trip to the monks at his suggestion – Gene said I needed to improve my concentration." Mai broke off to massage her newly-bared arm. The scars were hurting something fierce; Mai was almost certain she would see Gene's death tonight. "The_ second_ trip to see the monks," she gritted out, "Was to get some more... _specialized_ training."

"You're speaking of Tominaga-sama?" Lin probed.

"No, no, that was afterwards," Mai clarified.

"After _what?_" Lin asked exasperatedly.

"I'm _getting_ there!" Mai insisted. "For someone who spends hours typing up long-winded witness interviews, you sure are impatient."

"There's a reason I don't ask the questions," Lin said flatly.

Mai giggled. "Right, because _Naru_ is so much better! How did you guys manage clients before I came along?"

"Madoka and Gene conducted the interviews," Lin replied evenly, hoping the mention of Gene would get his student back on track. And it did; she sobered immediately.

Clearing a suddenly tight throat, Mai continued. "By the second time I went to Mt. Kouya... Gene, Wen-_sifu_, and I had another goal in mind."

"Wen-_sifu?_"

"My first _onmyouji_ instructor," Mai explained obediently. Then she clutched the pillow again. "During one of our dream-training sessions, Gene and I got to talking about Naru." She and Gene actually talked about Naru a lot... but nobody needed to know that. "Gene was telling me about their PK training, and how he learned to help Naru with his overwhelming abilities." Mai bit her lip. "I told Gene that I'd seen Naru use them... and Gene realized what must have happened."

Memories of that awful day on the beach accosted Lin's inner eye... pushing hard against Noll's unmoving chest... his bright hand-print fading into the white of Noll's cheek... waves of relief at feeling Noll's heart beating under his fingers.

Mai took a sip of tea, and studied her scars with watery eyes. "Anyway, that got us to talking about... options."

"Options?" That niggling sense of dread returned with a vengeance.

"Yes," Mai replied nervously. "Naturally, Gene was upset. He figured that Naru wouldn't have wound up in the ICU if he had been there. Gene felt so guilty..."

"He could hardly have helped being murdered," Lin said shortly.

"Yeah, that's what I said," Mai agreed. "It didn't help much... until all of a sudden, Gene got this weird look on his face and said, 'I can't help Noll myself... but maybe I _can_ help Noll get a new partner.'"

"So he decided to train you," Lin finished impatiently. She'd already told him this - and training didn't explain the scars.

"Not exactly," Mai corrected, raising an eyebrow at her edgy mentor. "_You_ wanted to hear the story, Lin-san."

Lin glared into Mai's laughing eyes.

Something in his face made her nervous again, and Mai pulled at her other glove. "Gene told me that the marks on his arms gave him a special ability," she continued timidly.

"Yes, heightened control," Lin rattled off.

Mai squirmed. "Well, yes... but that wasn't the ability he was talking about."

"I don't understand."

"The marks gave Gene the ability... to transfer his PK to someone else," Mai said, looking anywhere but at her instructor. "Permanently."

Lin was confused. "Yes, that's true," he said eventually. "But how is that relevant? Gene is dead; he'd have to be alive to conduct a transfer. Besides, you wouldn't need Gene's marks - you could just have an _onmyouji _apply marks of your own."

"Well... you don't technically have to be _alive,_" Mai said slowly. "You just have to be _conscious_ - and Gene is spiritually conscious."

Her instructor considered this. Ability transfer required conscious decision... more accurately, a uniting of two selfless, concentrated minds. He supposed that spiritual consciousness would suffice - but why would ghosts need PK abilities?

Not to mention, the transfer process was complicated, extremely dangerous and very permanent. Consequently, ability transfers were very seldom utilized - and _never_ attempted without great need and care on both sides. When done incorrectly, a transfer attempt could be fatal for the intended recipient of the marks. The intended supplier of the marks usually ended up pretty badly off, too.

"That sounds reasonable in theory, Mai-san," Lin admitted, "But unnecessarily risky. Successful transfers between two highly-trained, physically present _onmyouji_ are rare enough. And given the lack of physical grounding, conducting the procedure in the spirit world might actually be _more_ dangerous. I highly doubt any sane astral projector would consider such a thing."

Mai smiled grimly. "It wouldn't be the first time someone's called me crazy."

That sense of dread found a home in the pit of Lin's stomach. "What exactly are you saying?"

Mai's grim smile evolved into a grim laugh. "You asked me why ability transfer was even a relevant topic," she reminded him, slowly removing her other glove. "You're assuming that the PK-MT I use... is my own."

Lin's mind reeled. She could not possibly be insinuating... "You've developed several psychic gifts over the years," he argued faintly.

"But not PK," Mai said softly. She tried to smile encouragingly; Lin looked pretty pale.

"You _can't_ be saying..." he trailed off.

Rather than reply verbally, Mai instead tossed her empty teacup in the air. As it fell back towards the table, Mai reached out her hands - and the cup stopped four inches from the wooden surface. "Did you ever notice that my capability level matches Gene's exactly?" she asked quietly.

Lin watched the empty cup rotate slowly in the air for a moment. "I recognized that it was similar," he noted. "But that was hardly the most significant observation to be had." Lin's eyes fell to his student. Mai's arms were outstretched in a perfect _qigong_ pose, and her powers... and _Gene's_ powers blazed down her arms in golden streams. A powerful wave of emotion swept through Lin; he was moved, angry, disbelieving, and awed all at once.

And in the back of his mind, Lin couldn't help but think that it was a very good thing Mai decided to tell him instead of Noll.

"The PK isn't mine," Mai whispered, as if confessing some awful secret.

_In a way_, Lin thought, _she was_. Mai wasn't just hiding extra training from Noll – she was now the keeper of his dead twin's PK-MT. Lin closed his eyes, internally bemoaning the _humongous_ amount of trouble this was going to cause.

And speaking of trouble... "What was Gene thinking?" Lin asked rhetorically, staring at his student's marked-up forearm. "If he knew how to conduct the transfer, he had to know how _dangerous_ it was." Having gotten over his initial shock, Lin's anger took control. Gene was already a ghost... but was PK-MT really worth risking Mai's life as well?

"Um, I was there, too, Lin-san," Mai cut in. "And yes, of course we knew how dangerous it was." She rolled her eyes.

Lin exhaled slowly, trying hard not to shake Mai for her suddenly blasé attitude. It was as if they were discussing Mai's spending too much on a new dress. "You could have DIED," he barked, spearing his student with a hard grey stare. Lin felt slightly mollified when Mai jumped in her seat.

"Yes, I know," she said soberly. "I _had_ to know, didn't I? Gene said that being aware of the consequences was an important part of the transfer process."

The _onmyouji_ steepled his fingers. Gene was right – such an extreme and delicate procedure required nothing less than complete devotion and understanding... including the understanding that attempting a transfer could be fatal. "Permanent power transfer requires a great unity of spirit, emotion, and purpose," Lin recited, quoting his own education on the subject. "And is exceptionally difficult for even the most experienced of Chinese mages." Lin narrowed his eyes. "In other words - beyond foolish for two headstrong teenagers to attempt."

"But we weren't being headstrong..." Mai argued.

"You were both out of your depth," Lin said remorselessly. "And exceptionally reckless."

Mai fired up at this accusation. 'Reckless' usually went along with 'stupid' in Naru-speak. "But we did it!" she cried, waving her scarred arms. "So it couldn't have been _that_ stupid!"

"_Risking your life_ like that was unaccountably reckless," Lin insisted.

"Oh really? So you wouldn't risk your life for Madoka?" Mai asked angrily.

"That's not the point –"

"That's exactly the point!" Mai interrupted. "Haven't you been listening? We did it for Naru!"

Lin fell silent. _It wasn't about the PK-MT_, he reminded himself. Transferring PK-MT to Mai simply to add another skill to her repertoire wouldn't have filled the karmic requirements for a successful procedure. But providing Mai with a possibly life-saving psychokinetic connection to Noll was a selfless and urgent goal.

"Gene and I knew that Naru would use his powers again someday!" Mai ranted (unknowingly reinforcing Lin's conclusions). "And what if he _died_ the next time? I would never be able to forgive myself, knowing that I could have done something to save him!"

"Mai-san, it is Oliver's responsibility to keep himself in check," Lin reminded her. They'd had this conversation before.

"And he isn't perfect!" Mai shot back. "You know that not being able to use his PK makes Naru feel inadequate! _You're_ the one who told me that!" Mai leapt off the couch and started pacing. "And what if someone else gets in trouble?" As Mai threw up her hands in frustration, a nearby porcelain vase cracked in half. She didn't seem to notice. "The first time Naru overused his PK was when _I_ fell down the well, remember? He moved the rocks to save me! Who's to say he wouldn't do it again?"

Lin couldn't argue with reasoning that so closely mirrored his own. Noll's future safety was Lin's reason for proposing secret training in the first place.

"Gene and I..." Mai said softly, head down and eyes teary. "We did it because we... love Naru." Mai stared at the floor, blushing embarrassedly.

Her instructor heaved a long sigh. "I know, Mai-san," he replied. "In fact, that unselfish reason for the transfer was probably what made it work... and what saved you from death. Someone who selfishly wanted power would not likely have been as fortunate."

Mai flinched. "Wen-_sifu_ said something like that."

"Good to know you and Gene didn't go without advisement," Lin muttered.

"It's not like we just did it on a whim," Mai retorted. "I trained for _months_."

Ah, and the mystery of Mai's turnaround was fully solved –Mai would have no qualms with dedicating herself to years of training, if it meant being able to save Noll from himself. Lin shook his head, annoyed that he hadn't figured it out sooner.

But who would have guessed a PK transfer conducted between a ghost and an astral projector in the spirit world? If the proof hadn't been standing in front of him, Lin never would have thought it possible. "So that was the _special event_," he surmised.

"What?" Mai asked confusedly.

"The _special event_ that synced your aura with Gene's and caused the repeating death dream," Lin elaborated. "That was how you termed it."

"Oh, right," Mai remembered. "I forgot you asked about that. And yes, I was talking about the transfer."

Lin just nodded. "I suppose I almost blew your cover," he reckoned. "Noll was in the room for that discussion."

Mai glared. "Yeah, you did," she muttered. "I told Naru the truth about Gene to get him off the scent, and then you go and put him right back on track!"

Her teacher raised an eyebrow. "Telling one secret to protect another? How very..."

"Secret agent of me?" Mai grinned. "I know."

"It can't have been your idea," Lin deadpanned.

"It was, too!" Mai cried. Then she looked away. "I _might_ have used Yasuhara as an inspiration..."

"Hn."

"Shut up!" Mai groused, wincing as she rubbed one of her forearms.

"Do they always hurt?" Lin asked curiously.

"No," Mai shook her head. "Sometimes I think that focusing too hard on them does it. Or maybe Gene's pissed that I told you." As she surveyed her scars, she remembered one of her questions for Lin. "You know, I still wonder why they're scars and not tattoos."

Lin considered. "Perhaps your marks present as scars because of the unusual circumstances of their placement."

Mai raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"The tattoos are the medium through which the marking spell sinks into the soul," Lin replied. "But Gene transferred them to your spirit instead of your body, which would be like going from the _inside out_, rather than the _outside in_. Spirit to body, instead of body to spirit. That might explain the strange outward manifestation of the spell."

Mai nodded slowly. "That makes sense," she replied. Then she winced. "I kind of thought the scars might be a... karmic punishment for doing something so..."

"Clearly meant for two live people to do?" Lin finished. "I suppose it's possible – your motives were pure enough to survive, but physical scarring remains as a karmic warning."

"Like the scars I accidentally gave to the kids on the Yoshimi case," Mai suggested, remembering the red marks on Katsuki's and Wakako's backs. She'd thrown the nine cuts at them to save them... but while she'd succeeded, she'd ignored Bou-san's warning and the kids suffered for it.

"It's conceivable," Lin allowed. "But the most important thing to remember is that you _did_ succeed, Mai-san. And now..." As his disbelief and anger subsided, Lin's mind cleared enough to process the benefits of the transfer. "And now, you possess a PK connection to Noll." His eyes fell to the vase Mai had accidentally broken when she poltergeisted earlier. "As well as the entirety of Gene's PK-MT."

Mai had to grin; Lin's voice was tinged with awe. "Yeah," she nodded. "But the PK-MT was like a bonus. We really did the transfer so that I could access Gene's energy manipulations skills and PK link to Naru."

Lin pursed his lips. He'd seen the PK-MT in action, but... "Mai-san, is there any evidence that Gene's – that_ your_ – psychic connection to Noll is working properly?"

Biting her lip shyly, Mai nodded. "I... can feel it sometimes... when Naru is really close to me," she confessed.

"Are you sure..." Lin paused, wondering how best to phrase this unfortunately necessary question. "Are you sure that what you feel is a psychic connection, and not... physical attraction?"

"Lin-saaaaan!" Mai blushed furiously. "Ugh, does _everyone_ know?" the teen psychic moaned (conveniently forgetting she had just openly told Lin that she loved Naru).

"I don't think Martin's twigged it yet," Lin replied equably. "His full attention is on your scholastic and psychic development. And we're all pretty sure Noll doesn't know, either."

Mai buried her face in a couch pillow. "So _embarrassing,_" she moaned.

"It's not an entirely unfortunate situation," Lin reasoned. "After all, the group's rather obsessive focus on your relationship with Noll has kept them from thinking too hard about the origins of your PK."

_Obsessive focus?_ Mai blanched in horror. "Is that supposed to make me feel _better?_"

Lin stared. "Emotional placation isn't exactly my forte."

Mai couldn't help but giggle. "Yeah, I guess." She stretched her arms out in front of her, a movement which yanked slightly at the puckered skin of the scars. "And _yes_, I'm sure it's a psychic connection. I can feel the difference... most of the time." Mai reddened, mortified all over again. "I mean, it does get, um, confusing from time to time, but... sometimes I can see the golden strands connecting us."

Lin just nodded, thinking hard. "And Noll hasn't noticed?"

"I don't think so," Mai shook her head. "He's certainly never said anything. And I feel like he definitely would."

"I agree." Lin took a sip of his now-cold tea. "It makes sense. Noll has never been as psychically sensitive to his surroundings as you and Gene."

"Or Masako-chan," Mai added.

"Or Miss Hara," Lin allowed.

"Gene reckons that the connection is working," Mai informed him. "Remember the first time I astral projected during the Reed case? I was really talking to Gene."

Lin nodded again, having already sussed that out.

"And apparently, Naru called out for me," Mai murmured, feeling heat creep up her neck once more.

The _onmyouji_ resisted a smirk. "Yes, I remember." Once they had figured out that Mai was alive, Noll's extreme overreaction and impassioned entreaties to Mai's unconscious body became a source of great amusement to the team.

Mai wasn't sure she liked Lin's tone, but she chose to press on. "We heard it," she revealed. "Gene and I heard Naru calling for me, even though we were in the realm of lingering spirits. As far as I know, no one has ever reached me in there... and Gene said that it was a sign that the transfer was definitely successful."

Lin's hopes soared. "That is excellent news, Mai-san," he said feelingly. "Without the forging of a strong psychic connection between yourself and Noll, you could never have become his partner. Our proposed secret training would have been for nothing."

"Well," Mai said jauntily, "Now you don't have to worry about that anymore!" She was feeling rather elated. Someone finally knew her secret – _and_ he was on her side! Mai had scored herself a combination teacher and conspirator! "So when do we start?"

The _onmyouji _shook his head at Mai's cheerfulness. Lin wasn't exactly sure how to feel right now. On one hand, Mai and Gene had potentially solved an extremely significant and nigh-insurmountable problem. The transfer should enable Noll to use his powers without endangering himself. As Noll's former bodyguard (and de facto control officer), Lin felt a humongous burden lift from his shoulders. The years of testing and of everyone's agonizing were over.

However, Mai and Gene had only accomplished this goal by utilizing one of the most dangerous, risky methods in existence. Lin sighed. "It won't be easy to get around Noll," he warned. "Or anyone else, for that matter." Madoka, Yasuhara, Martin, and Luella were all consummate observers.

"Well, we _do_ work with a bunch of investigators," Mai allowed. "But it's not impossible, Lin." Mai had decided that she would drop the honorific and see what happened. When Lin didn't object, she grinned and continued. "I mean, _I've_ managed to keep the transfer a secret all this time. And I _suck_ at lying."

"You've improved under the tutelage of Yasuhara," Lin noted dryly.

-0O0-

"Damn right she has," a glasses-wearing psychic researcher whispered under his breath. Yasuhara shifted his weight, pressing his ear harder against the front door. But it was too late – now they were just talking logistics.

For the first time in his life, Yasu bemoaned being so awesome at dating. If he and Liz had... _finished_ a bit earlier, he might have returned in time to hear the whole conversation. He'd obviously missed something important – Lin was suddenly offering Mai secret training to become Naru's 'partner!'

Heh, training Mai to be Naru's _partner_. _Sooo_ many fun places to go with _that_ sentence... But Yasuhara dutifully pushed the double entendre out of his head in favor of considering the information he'd gleaned.

Given Naru's PK problem, this could only mean that Mai would be attempting to 'partner' with Naru the way Gene had. But from everything Yasu had heard, help from anyone other than Gene was impossible. _Something must have changed... _wait, Mai _had_ just said something about being psychically connected to Naru.

Maybe this unidentified 'transfer' had something to do with that fateful night in the basement? Yasuhara had heard Mai call out for Gene's help during the attack – he'd been huddling behind that desk with her, after all. He also knew that Mai had passed out for a few minutes... before thrashing back into wakefulness to deliver her very first PK-MT ass-kicking.

Yasu had assumed that Gene helped Mai unlock her PK powers that night... but what if it was something more? After all, it would make sense if Mai's psychic connection to Naru were somehow inspired by Naru's twin.

Plus, there was all that blood on the floor where Mai had been laying. Yasu was _sure_ she hadn't gotten cut up until _after _she'd run past Bou-san's barrier to fight the murderous spirit.

Yasuhara had been wondering about the events of that night for over a year, and now he _finally_ had more clues. A thrill of excitement stole through the Cambridge student... mixed in with a little jealousy. Yasu couldn't believe that Mai would take _Lin_ into her confidence before himself.

But then again, it did provide Yasuhara with an excellent opportunity to hone his snooping skills.

-0O0-

Dinner had already been served at the Davis household when the front door banged open and loud male voices floated down the hall. Luella sighed in annoyance; the Cambridge crowd almost always came home late on Mondays. Martin held discussion class on Monday afternoons, and apparently the arguments could drag on for hours - especially since Martin tended to sit back and gleefully let the battle unfold. Luella heard her husband talking animatedly with Yasuhara, and guessed that tonight's class had been particularly eventful. She didn't hear Mai's voice, though...

Naru looked up as two of the three late arrivals entered the dining room; Martin in particular looked almost manically energized. Naru heaved an internal sigh. He had _planned_ to spend the evening working on his paper – after all, nothing would get done once the Banderson case started.

But then Martin's eyes landed on his adopted son, and Naru knew his paper would have to wait until morning. Martin liked to use his SPR employees as a sounding board for his students' best ideas, and Naru would undoubtedly be expected to participate. Yasuhara also looked like he was bursting to talk, and Mai was... nowhere to be seen? Naru stopped grumbling internally and lasered in on his father.

"Where's Mai?" Naru and Luella asked simultaneously.

Instead of answering, Martin and Yasuhara exchanged highly amused glances and chuckled conspiratorially.

Naru exhaled crossly. So it was going to be one of _those_ nights.

Martin noticed his adopted son's irritation. "She went for a short walk around the corner," he explained quickly.

"But it's dinnertime!" Luella pouted.

Yasuhara cleared his throat. "Yes, well, Mai-chan needed a moment to compose herself. She'll have a hot chocolate at the café and be right back."

"Compose herself?" Madoka repeated incredulously.

Naru was finding his former mentor's verbosity increasingly satisfying; he received answers to questions without the trouble of asking on his own. As an added bonus, Madoka's consistent interest in Mai's welfare allowed Naru to get answers without drawing Luella's attention. His mother was unnaturally interested in his acquaintance with Mai.

It was Martin who actually responded. "Yes, well, the discussion got a bit _heated_ this evening."

"That's an understatement!" Yasu crowed, sipping his newly-arrived dinner wine. "I thought Mai-chan was going to use the nine words on Roger!"

"What?" Lin queried, looking rather shocked.

"Now, Yasuhara, let's not get carried away," Martin remonstrated, fighting a smile. "Even without my interference, I'm sure Taniyama would have restrained herself to merely punching Mr. Todd in the face."

The two scholars chuckled like idiots, and Naru gritted his teeth. This was going to take _forever_. "And _why_ would Mai have done something so violent?" he asked pointedly.

"She got into it with one of our more... _outspoken _classmates," Yasuhara finally replied, wanting to explain before Mai arrived. They couldn't have her going into hysterics again; Luella's glasses were too pretty to be busted up in an accidental PK-MT blast.

Speaking of which, he and Mai should probably offer to pay for Martin's window... "We were discussing whether exorcisms performed by members of other religions would work on Christian ghosts. Now, _we_ all know that John's Catholic exorcisms work on Japanese ghosts, but Mai-chan forgot that not all of our classmates have such extensive real-world experience."

Madoka grinned. "So Mai-chan went all 'Noll' and told the guy off by citing her superior knowledge of ghost hunting?"

Naru glared, Lin smirked, Luella's eyes sparkled with amusement, and Martin shook his head, still chuckling.

"Not exactly," Yasuhara replied. "Since we're trying to keep our extracurricular activities all hush-hush right now, I had to stop her mid-rant."

"Then Outspoken Jerk Guy won the argument?" Madoka asked, looking crestfallen.

"I highly doubt you let the class go home without correcting such a misapprehension," Naru said to his father.

"I _may_ have hinted to Taniyama that she could use an _academic_ argument to back her claim," Professor Davis confessed.

"Which she did!" Yasuhara exclaimed giddily. "Mai-chan caught the hint, and turned the discussion back in our favor - by quoting an impressive amount of Dr. Oliver Davis' published research on ghost hunting in Japan."

Everyone grinned at Naru - who pointedly ignored them. He chose to stare Yasuhara into finishing the story.

Yasu got the message. "_So_," he continued dramatically, "Mai-chan had _way_ more textual evidence than Roger, but Roger fought back. He argued that certain aspects of a Buddhist exorcism _would _work on Western ghosts – but only because there are some shared beliefs between Buddhism and Christianity. In other words, he said that Naru here was _wrong_ about an exorcism working so long as the exorcist believed in his own words. And then..." Yasu grinned. "It got nasty."

"So Mai defended Noll's work?" Madoka asked brightly.

Naru had a brief, enjoyable vision of Mai's temper flaring in his defense.

"Of course she did," Yasuhara noted. "But she had quite a bit of _help._ Naru's rabid fan-girls – and some Bou-san-style fan-_boys_ – joined in to create a yelling, screaming, chaotic mess!"

Naru closed his eyes, loathing his apparent popularity.

"And you let it get_ that_ out of hand, Martin?" Luella asked disbelievingly.

"I was just about to intercede," Martin assured his wife, "But then Taniyama wolf-whistled and yelled something in Japanese." Professor Davis couldn't help laughing at the memory; Mai's spirit was quite entertaining.

"It was, 'shut up, you idiots!'" Yasuhara supplied. "Same thing she yells at Bou-san and Ayako when they argue on cases."

"Everything stopped for a moment, and Taniyama used the opportunity well." Martin grinned in a disturbingly Yasuhara-like way. "She calmly informed Mr. Todd that he had offered no evidentiary basis for his undermining of Noll's thesis... so unless he had something definitive to offer, there was no argument to be had."

"_Mai-san_ said that?" Lin asked, naked shock in his voice.

The _onmyouji_ didn't notice three sets of eyes pop open at his use of Mai's first name. Madoka grinned, Naru internally berated himself for even _caring_, and Yasuhara decided to roll with it.

"Yeah," Yasu replied, glasses flashing. "Looks like those hours of debating with you guys paid off. It was _great_, by the way – Roger's mouth fell open, while Mai-chan settled primly into her seat like a noblewoman. In fact, I think she borrowed that move from Masako-chan."

"And I decided to call it a night," Martin cut in. "Seeing as we were already 10 minutes over, and Taniyama had won the argument. The peace wouldn't have lasted long, anyway."

"No, it wouldn't have," Yasuhara asserted. "Most of the class shuffled out the door, but Mai-chan and Roger Todd just sat there glaring holes into each other - each waiting for the other to make a move."

"Like an old-fashioned duel," Luella mused softly.

"Quite right," Martin agreed. "So I herded Mr. Todd from the room, and suggested that he research his theory on interreligious exorcisms and have another go next week. We chatted for a few minutes, and he left_ slightly_ mollified." Martin took a bite of beef, savoring his next words. "And _then_ I got down to the car."

Yasuhara sighed theatrically. "One of Big Boss' fan-girls took issue with Mai-chan's approach to defending his research. Judith reckoned that Mai left his work open to future dispute."

"Academic work is summarily open to future dispute. A paranormal research student should know better," Madoka opined uncompromisingly.

"Yeah, Mai-chan said pretty much the same thing - which prompted some pointless ridicule concerning her mental capacity."

"Oh, really?" Madoka asked archly. The next time she came in for a ghost hunting demonstration...

"Don't worry," came a voice from the hallway. Mai breezed into the dining room and plopped into the only remaining chair. "I already handled it... sort of."

Naru raised a querulous eyebrow (and tried to ignore the discernible warm feeling that Mai's presence induced in his chest).

"_Sort of?_" Yasu repeated. "You were great!" Clearing his throat, Yasuhara prepared his high-pitched angry-Mai impersonation. "She drew herself up and yelled, 'If you're so smart, maybe you should quit school and become a full-time fan girl! Then you can sit home and... what was it again, Mai-chan?"

Every eye turned to Mai, who reluctantly replied, "Then you can sit home and stare at pictures of Oliver Davis all day, instead of wasting our time in the parapsychology department.'"

The entire room burst into laughter.

Mai looked away in embarrassment, only to lock eyes with a smirking Naru. Fighting spirit renewed, Mai fought down a raging blush and put out her tongue. Naru only smirked more widely.

"Should I suggest as much on her next graded assignment?" Martin joked.

"No!" Mai cried, not quite realizing he was kidding. "Ugh, me and my big mouth. Whatever, the story's over."

"Well, not quite," Yasuhara contradicted slyly. "You see, Mai-chan's been a bit stressed out lately... and apparently that argument was the straw that broke the camel's back. Poor Mai-chan stomped over to the car, flounced into the back seat, and screamed her fury to the ceiling!"

"Which must have coincided with _my_ arrival!" Martin cut in with inappropriate excitement. "Just as I walked up to the car, Taniyama poltergeisted and broke the back passenger window!"

Mai put her head in her heads. "I'm sooo sorry," she said through her fingers. "Of course I'll pay for it."

"Why would you do that?" asked her mystified professor.

"Martin regards any evidence of strong psychic powers to be worth whatever collateral damage they cause," Madoka explained to Mai. "You know, like the lab wall you toasted."

"Don't fret, Taniyama," Martin reassured his guilty-faced student. "A car window and a wall are pocket change, compared with the damage Noll caused over the years."

Now it was Mai's turn to smirk at Naru. She made sure to smile wider when he glared.

"You're a generous man, Professor," Yasuhara noted. "Mai once busted a TV during an argument with Ayako, and her loving almost-adopted mother took it out of Mai's TTMPI salary."

"And I paid for an upgrade," Mai groused. "There's no way the one I broke had a plasma screen."

"Well, so much for keeping your powers a secret at school," Madoka noted sympathetically. "Poltergeisting in front of a parapsychology student was probably a giveaway."

"No, they're still a secret," Yasuhara assured her. "Luckily, she'd already walked away. Judith may be a rabid fan-girl, but she _is_ highly intelligent and would definitely have identified Mai as a psychic." He rolled his eyes. "Then again, even the Third Client figured out that the random stuff flying at his head was a psychic freak-out."

Mai groaned, trying not to think about that... _marauding_ client.

"You know, you'd best be careful in the future, Mai-chan," Yasuhara warned playfully. "Naru's super-fan will be out for blood."

"She can bring it," Mai replied testily.

Naru felt an irritating rush of pleasure at Mai's readiness to fight over him... over _the discussion topic_, he corrected severely.

Down the table, Madoka watched as Noll tried to suppress his reactions to Mai. Gleefully, she elbowed Lin and whispered, "It's going well, Koujo!"

"You're being too optimistic," Lin replied sourly, his mind on the trouble yet ahead. Mai's 'stressed-out' behavior stemmed from their first secret training session. She had done reasonably well, but the stress of school, work, training,_ and_ secret training was proving to be too much for her. Lin had already decided to cut back PK seeding training to once every two weeks (rather than weekly), and to focus on meditation and relaxation poses during their regular training.

"Well, _someone_ has to be optimistic," Madoka snarked. "_You_ won't let us get involved, so the least I can do is cheer them on from afar. And _maybe_ push a little."

Koujo Lin took a moment to reflect on the irony of this situation. He'd asked everyone to stay out of Mai and Noll's business - and now he was voluntarily hip-deep in the whole mess. "Just do it more subtly, Madoka," he intoned. "The last thing we need is for Noll to discover our maneuvering."

"_Our_ maneuvering?" Madoka reiterated curiously. Her boyfriend was decidedly uninvolved in the relationship-engineering going on around him.

Interestingly, Lin blanched for a moment. Then he said, "I assumed you included me in your list of collaborators."

The master ghost hunter paused only a beat before replying brightly, "Of course I do, Koujo. Glad to see you're on board, even if only nominally." _Is he hiding something?_ Madoka wondered to herself.

She vowed to think on it... but first things first. She wanted an explanation. "Going back to this 'Third Client,'" Madoka fixed Yasu with a gimlet eye, "Out with it, already. You can't keep mentioning him and not explain yourselves."

"There is nothing to explain," Mai said quickly.

"We looked at the report of your third case," Luella admitted. "But we found nothing out of the ordinary."

"That's because Mai-chan unprofessionally left a _certain incident_ out of the case report," Yasuhara replied merrily.

"It had nothing to do with the reportable aspects of the case!" Mai yelled.

"_Everything_ about a case is reportable, Mai," Naru argued coolly. "Even the most insignificant details can change the scientific value of an investigation."

"Not that detail," Mai said flatly.

"And I wouldn't call it an _insignificant detail_," Yasuhara noted, clearly enjoying himself. "So, in the interest of full disclosure..."

"Yasu!" Mai's eyes screamed betrayal. She'd dealt with quite enough _disclosure_ for one week.

Her best friend rolled his eyes. "Come now, Mai-chan, it's not _that_ bad. How are you ever going to be a serious scientist if you can't get over a little embarrassment?"

Mai threw Yasuhara a look of intense disgust.

"Nice try, Mai-chan, but your Glare of Doom is not yet at Naru's level. Now, where was I?" Yasu made a show of looking thoughtful. "Ah, yes. The unrecorded story of the Third Client... also known as, 'The Story of How Mai Taniyama Reluctantly Received her First Kiss.'"

"WHAT?!" cried Madoka.

Luella's hand clapped to her mouth, and Lin choked on his water.

Martin made to exchange an eye-roll with Noll - only to find his son staring at Yasuhara with wide, distraught-looking eyes. Martin Davis wasn't sure whether to be amused that Noll was undeniably caught up in social melodrama... or to despair at the loss of his compatriot in melodrama-immunity.

Meanwhile, Mai buried her head in her hands. "It _doesn't count_," she muttered.

"It does, too," Yasuhara sang. "The Third Client was a _live person_, not a ghost, so you can't use the same argument as you did when -"

"_Yasu_." Mai's voice was deadly calm. "Think very carefully about your next words... because this night may end in your being strangled with a laptop cord."

Yasuhara studied Mai's expression for a moment. "Wow, that's a _much_ higher-level Glare of Doom! Good job, Mai-chan!"

"Stick to _one_ embarrassing story, Yasu," Mai hissed.

"Fine, it can be a reward for your level-up." Yasuhara turned back to the group. "Okay. You guys remember that the Third Client had a thing for Mai-chan, right?"

"Yes," most of the party chorused.

Professor Davis didn't remember... but he was currently more concerned with Oliver's rather odd behavior. Not only was his scientist son allowing Yasuhara to wax poetic about personal drama (a topic he would normally have scornfully shut down by now), but Noll was clenching his fork so tightly that Martin was afraid it might snap. And did his knife just wiggle?

"And like I've said before," Yasuhara continued, "He creepily followed Mai-chan around like a stalker. Eventually, she became fed up with it – but Mai-chan is not the type to offend clients."

"Much less tell a client to quit being a creepy stalker," Madoka laughed.

"Exactly," Yasuhara agreed. "So Mai-chan chose to fill the creepy silences with talking. She just babbled on about ghost hunting – talking about the cameras, our temperature gages, spirit identification, and most significantly... possessions."

"Most significantly?" Luella asked curiously.

Yasuhara gave an evil chuckle. "Yes. Mai-chan explained that people do weird, sometimes terrible things when they're possessed. Mai described a fistfight that she and Masako-chan got into, the numerous times she's wandered into a forest in the middle of winter..."

"That only happened a _few_ times!" Mai cut in angrily. "Don't say it like that happens every other case!"

"My apologies, Mai-chan. I didn't realize that the word 'numerous' would cause you to overreact like that. I figured you wouldn't freak out until we got to the good part." Yasu winked mockingly.

"_I hate you_."

"Yes, you've said that," Yasu noted airily. "Anyway, then the Third Client asked if Mai-chan had ever called the cops on someone for committing crimes while possessed. Mai said no, of course - because what people do when they're possessed isn't their fault."

"Oh, I know where this is going!" Madoka laughed.

"You can't say such things to a client," Naru scoffed. "What if that client then committed a crime on site and tried to blame it on possession? You have to be more careful, Mai."

"You are _so_ right, Big Boss!" The wattage of Yasu's smile bordered on blinding. "He _totally_ did that - our client's 'possession' culminated in his grabbing Mai-chan in the hall and _kissing_ her." Yasuhara shook his head in mock sadness. "I think he would have gone for some tongue, too - if Bou-san hadn't hauled him off of Mai and whacked him in the face with a sutra."

Mai's head sank back to the table. "Thanks, Yasu," she groaned from within her arm-fortress. "I'd_ almost_ blocked that day out of my mind."

"You're welcome, Mai-chan!" Yasuhara laughed. "I mean, who would want to forget their first kiss?"

"More people than you'd think," Naru replied quietly.

But apparently not quietly enough. "Ha, that's right!" Madoka cried. "Noll lost his first kiss via harassment, too!"

Mai's head shot up like a rocket. "_You _did?" she asked Naru incredulously.

Naru took a moment to glare daggers into his former mentor before addressing Mai. "Most unfortunately... yes," he responded archly. "At least Bou-san ably defended your honor. _My_ idiotic companions just fell over laughing." He gestured to the hysterical Madoka. "Exactly like that. Wonderful to see you've matured, Madoka."

"Wonderful to see that stick hasn't worked its way out of you," Madoka replied saucily.

"Alright," Martin said firmly. "I have hit my limit for the evening, and I would imagine that Taniyama has, as well. What say we adjourn to the sitting room, and talk about _anything_ else?"

Mai smiled gratefully and mouthed words of thanks.

Yasuhara rose leisurely from the table. "Sounds doable. Didn't you ask about Christmas in Japan the other day, Professor?"

"Yes, I did," Martin enthused, clapping Yasu on the back and leading him away. Lin and Madoka followed quickly, and Luella left to retrieve a patient file she'd brought home from the clinic.

Naru moved to leave as well, but his forward progress was halted by a yank on his sleeve. He whipped around to see a smiling Mai standing just behind him. Naru ruthlessly quashed the swooping feeling in his stomach, and summoned his usual expression. "What, Mai?"

"I-I know it's kind of stupid," Mai confessed, "But... knowing_ that_ also happened to you makes me feel better." She blushed, but didn't look away.

In the old days, Naru would probably have said, 'You're right; that's stupid,' and walked away.

Instead, Naru found himself replying, "Regrettably, the combination of talent and looks tends to draw romantic attention."

It took both of them a moment to fully process this remark. Naru figured it out first, and walked (fled) immediately upstairs - to excoriate his brain over its increasingly evident descent into madness.

Mai just stood there, eyes unseeing and jaw hanging open. Her first instinct had been about to yell about Naru's narcissism, but...

"Did he just say I'm pretty?" she asked the empty room.

-0O0-

AN: There's a blizzard going on where I live, but at least being snowed in let me get the chapter out faster!:)

Review replies coming tomorrow (provided I still have power, lol), and I hope this chapter answered a lot of questions about the transfer. And see? No cliffhanger this time!;)

And thank you so much to **Desert Willow**, who provided me with lots of information on Cambridge!

So more school stuff soon, but first it's case time:) And I have been looking forward to this case. *evil laughter*


	33. Chapter 33

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Manga 12 would be out in English.**

**Chapter 33 – Mind vs. Heart vs. Angry Spirits**

-0O0-

"Wait, whaaat?" Yasuhara's face was the picture of betrayal. "I don't get to go on the case?"

"You won't be necessary," Naru replied, casually flipping a page in his notebook.

"What Noll _means_," Martin amended quickly, "Is that at least one of my transfer students should remain in class as often as possible, especially since we're secretly breaking the rule of Keeping Term."

Mai nodded in silent agreement. Evidently, there was some kind of rule that prohibited Cambridge students from living more than ten miles from the university. In order to satisfy this requirement, Martin was pretending that Mai and Yasu were staying in the Davis' vacation home (which was right outside of Cambridge).

"And besides," Martin continued. "Madoka's intern needs a test run. But don't worry, Yasuhara," he assured, "You'll be sent on the next one."

The researcher's mutinous glare faded. "Well, I guess _someone_ has to take notes for Mai-chan," Yasu acquiesced. Then he grinned at Mai. "I'll be sure to make them as entertaining as possible."

"I can't wait," Mai groaned. She'd probably wind up having to decode all her assignments.

Suddenly, Yasu yanked Mai in close. "You'd better tell me if anything _good_ happens," he hissed.

"Like if the ghost is really interesting?" Mai asked obliviously.

Her best friend threw her a pitying look. "Mai-chan, I could get _that_ from the case report. I want to know if anything good happens with _Naru_." Everyone had noticed that Big Boss was struggling with _something_ lately... and they all hoped it was romantic in nature.

Predictably, Mai blushed to the roots of her hair. "Yasu!" she complained. "Shut _up!_"

Across the room, Naru gritted his teeth. He wasn't sure what annoyed him more - Yasuhara's over-familiarity, or Mai's reaction to it.

Naturally, Yasu decided to fan the flames. "You shut up," he replied flirtatiously, winking at Mai.

Naru rubbed the aching forehead that covered his deeply divided brain. Part of Naru wanted to throw something at Yasuhara. The other part reckoned he should bang_ himself_ over the head until all these stupid thoughts fell out of his brain.

Fortunately, Mai trumped both internal arguments. Naru watched as she nonchalantly reached behind her back, pulled up a throw pillow, and smacked Yasuhara upside the head with it.

"No, _you_ shut up," Mai grumbled, rolling her eyes.

Satisfaction washed through Naru at Mai's outright rejection of Yasuhara's nonsense. "Mai. Perhaps you'd like to look over my preliminary notes on the Banderson case?" he suggested evenly.

Mai's scowl dropped off immediately. "Yeah, I would! We leave in two days, and I know nothing about the case history." Mai took the proffered papers with a bright smile. "Thanks, Naru!"

The practicing psychologist in the room hid a smile as she watched Noll try not to look pleased at Mai's unconscious display of preference. "Can't fool me, darling," Luella whispered.

Then Luella's well-trained eyes noticed something even more significant... from the looks of it, Noll wasn't fooling himself, either.

-0O0-

Mai had just started reading when a soft melody of_ shamisen_ music filled the quiet room.

"Incoming call from Hara Masako," Yasuhara intoned robotically.

"Duh," Mai hissed, still irritated with him. The teen psychic swiped her phone off the coffee table, and jogged into the hall. "_Hai moshi moshi?_" she asked perkily.

"Mai-chan," Masako's calm voice greeted. "How are you?"

"I'm great – SPR is going on a case this weekend!" Mai enthused. "But what's up with you?" Masako wasn't exactly a 'just-calling-to-say-hi' kind of girl.

"I may have a... personal problem," the medium admitted uncomfortably.

Mai grinned. This _had _to be about Shuuhei. "Ask away."

"Well, Shuuhei has... asked me to go on vacation with him."

In the beat of silence that followed, Mai heard the rustle of fabric - and just _knew_ Masako was hiding her blush behind a kimono sleeve. She also noticed that Masako hadn't used an honorific after Shuuhei's name. "But that's great, Masako-chan!" Mai exclaimed. "What's the problem?"

"I just... it's highly improper," Masako murmured embarrassedly.

Mai swallowed a giggle – Masako was so adorable sometimes. "Yeah... _and?_"

"And_ it's highly improper._"

"Soooo you're saying that the great Hara Masako is too_ proper_ for a couples vacation?" Mai asked, grinning mischievously. "That's weird - you had no problem trying to seduce Naru."

"Mai-chan." Masako's tone was frosty. "Please do not use the word _seduce_. _Dating_ and _seducing_ are not the same. You have most definitely spent enough time with Yasuhara-san to know that."

Mai snorted. "Yeah, you're right - I think he just seduced someone last week, actually." The teen psychic pursed her lips. "Then again... Yasu was suspiciously quiet after his date with Beach Girl. Maybe he's slipping?"

"Maybe he's growing up," Masako offered tartly.

"No, that can't be it," Mai joked. "He was just fake-flirting with me a few minutes ago."

"Right in front of Naru?" Masako asked knowingly.

Mai frowned in puzzlement. "Well, yeah, Naru was there. But why would that matter?"

"Hn," was all the response Masako offered.

"I guess Yasu _could_ have been trying to annoy Naru," Mai hazarded. "I mean, Yasu knows that his man-whore stuff freaks Naru out."

Masako just sighed. "A Cambridge student, and yet still so unaware."

Mai choked. "Are you seriously calling _Yasu_ unaware?" Yasuhara was too canny for his own good.

"I wasn't talking about - never mind," Masako sighed again. "Yasuhara-san's motives and profligacy aside, I... wanted to ask for your advice, Mai-chan."

A shocked Mai pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it. This was _big_. She and Masako were good friends, but Masako (like Naru) was usually too proud to ask for help. "Okay," Mai agreed, warmth blossoming in her chest. "Just answer me this – do you _want_ to go?"

There was a pause. "Yes," Masako replied quietly.

"Then you should go." Mai's smile practically split her face. "End of story."

"But Mai-chan, it's not that simple," Masako protested. "What about my parents? What about scheduling? What if the press gets wind? I don't want Shuuhei to get caught up in that nonsense."

"Well, first off, I don't know _why_ you would want to take your parents," Mai teased.

"Mai-chan, don't be ridiculous. You know that's not what I meant."

"Alright, alright," Mai relented. "But think about it, Masako-chan. You've been breaking away from your parents' ludicrous expectations for years – why back down now? Besides, you shouldn't let your parents get in the way of an important relationship."

Masako was silent for a moment. "Yes," she agreed soberly. "You're right."

"As for scheduling, just tell the show you need time off for a TTMPI case. You do it all the time!"

"But I don't want Shuuhei to think I'm hiding him," Masako worried.

"Just tell him the truth – you're a celebrity, and if word gets out, you might be dodging cameras instead of having a good time. Shuuhei-san _has_ to realize that's a concern," Mai reasoned.

"He does," Masako replied slowly. "It's just... I'm rather_ tired_ of concealing our relationship. We both just want to be open about it."

Mai had to shove her fist into her mouth to keep from squealing - Masako must be really serious about Shuuhei if she wanted to go public. Revealing a romantic relationship was always a risk for celebrities - especially for someone like Masako, whose image as a medium was largely dependent on her 'aloof and otherworldly' persona. "Then you'll definitely have to take him to meet your parents," Mai warned.

"Yes, I know," Masako sighed. "But... I want to go on vacation first. Some private time for the two of us."

Mai grinned – Masako sounded so _normal_. "Of _course_ you do," she said teasingly. "That way you guys can get _closer together_ before the drama of going public."

"Mai-chan!" Masako sounded scandalized.

Mai could practically feel the heat of her friend's blush through the phone, and could no longer resist the urge to squeal. "_Aiiii_, I can't believe it! I'm so excited for you, Masako-chan!"

And when Masako Hara actually _giggled into the phone_, Mai almost fell over in shock. "I'm rather pleased myself, Mai-chan," she revealed. "Now, about TTMPI's upcoming case..."

"Yeah, speaking of TTMPI - _where is my case report?_" Mai intoned in her best Naru-voice.

"To be fair, Bou-san _has_ been very busy with wedding things," Masako noted.

"Whatever," Mai grumped. "He still finds time to harangue me about The Nightmare every other day!"

"I don't know what you were expecting," Masako chided. "First he finds out it's getting worse, not better -"

"It _wasn't_ getting worse! That only happened because it was Gene's birthday, and it's not like I haven't had multiple Nightmares in a row before!"

"- and then you reveal that the onset of The Nightmare was much worse than you'd originally indicated. _Of course_ Bou-san went a bit crazy."

"Well, I'm not taking any more of his phone calls until I get a case report," Mai threatened.

"I'll be sure to pass on the message," Masako said dryly. "At any rate, would you like to hear the latest on our latest client?"

-0O0-

Twenty minutes of strategizing later, Mai slid back into her chair. She picked up Naru's case notes, and...

"Alright, Mai-chan," Yasuhara said severely. "Spill."

Mai donned her best 'confused' look. "Spill about what?"

"Don't you even!" Yasuhara closed the book he was reading with a sharp _snap_. "I still haven't forgiven you for not telling me about Masako's man." Or for telling _Lin_ things she wouldn't tell her best friend. "Now – _what did Masako-chan call about? _It had to be something important."

"A case," Mai lied badly. They had _eventually_ talked about the new case... but Masako had really_ called_ about her secret getaway. Heh, her _secret getaway!_

"Try saying that with a straight face," Yasuhara jeered. He could clearly see Mai giggling behind the sheaf of case notes. "It's gotta be about the boyfriend," Yasu surmised. "Did Shuuhei-san ask Masako to marry him or something?" When Mai only laughed harder, Yasu gasped. "Wait, _did he?_"

Mai managed to shake her head. "No, no, that's not it," she assured him. "I would have told you _that_ right away."

Yasuhara considered. "So it's something big, but also _secret_... hold on!" Yasu's eyes went wide. "Did she _sleep_ with him?"

"_No_, you perv!" Mai yelled, searching for another pillow to throw. Ugh, the closest one was on the couch... "And it's none of your business."

Yasuhara's glasses gleamed in the light. "I'll just call her," he threatened. "And you have nothing to blackmail me with this time!"

"Ugh, fine," Mai groaned in defeat. She hadn't talked Masako into it so that Yasu could tease her into chickening out. And since Ayako would definitely tell him during their next gossip-fest... "Masako-chan and Shuuhei-san are going on vacation together."

"Like a _love-love_ vacation?" Yasuhara probed.

Mai rolled her eyes, but couldn't help smiling. "Yes," she admitted.

"_Sugoi_," Yasuhara whispered. "That's _big_."

"It is," Mai agreed. "And you're going to _leave her alone_ about it. This is important to Masako-chan - she even wants Shuuhei-san to meet her parents."

Yasuhara raised his eyebrows. "_Really_ big."

Madoka jumped in. "So you guys were talking about locales all that time?" Maybe Mai had a favorite trip destination - one that Noll could file away for the future.

"No, not really," Mai answered. "Masako-chan wasn't sure if she should go, and wanted my opinion."

"Hang on," Yasuhara interrupted. "Are you saying that Masako Hara, medium extraordinaire and President of the That's-None-of-Your-Business Club... called for _advice?_"

"She mostly just tells _you_ to mind your own business," Mai reminded him. "But... yeah, I was shocked, too."

"So you told her to go?"

"Obviously." Mai rolled her eyes.

"Excellent," Yasuhara said emphatically. "It's about time she got some."

Madoka burst into laughter, Lin groaned inwardly, Mai was thankful that Martin and Luella were busy talking, and Naru silently lamented giving his case notes to Mai (as he now had nothing to distract himself).

Suddenly, Yasuhara gasped in fake-surprise. "I just realized something - Masako's love-love vacation could be very good for _you_, Mai-chan."

Mai _knew_ she shouldn't encourage him, but... "Why?" she asked warily.

"Well, you're upset that we'll miss the birth of Keiko-chan's baby," Yasuhara reminded her. "But if Masako-chan's _special vacation_ goes well, you might be there for the birth of _her_ baby! Nine months from now _would_ be smack in the middle of summer break." He gave his best friend a jaunty thumbs-up. "Wonder if they'd ask John-kun to perform a secret wedding?"

Mai almost fell out of her chair getting to that couch cushion, but it was worth it.

"_Ai!_ My glasses!"

-0O0-

It was as Mai was setting a monitor into place that she first heard it.

A soft, slow sort of _scraping_ sound... like something very heavy being dragged over stone.

Mai immediately froze in place, listening hard and stretching out with her senses. There was something moving at the edge of her consciousness, something heavy with sadness - but she couldn't quite get a lock on it. _And now it's moving_ _away!_ Swearing under her breath, Mai closed her eyes and flailed for a better connection...

Until her senses were inundated by several other auras. The bright aura of a living person... accompanied by a bunch of non-human auras. And together, they cut off Mai's connection to the spirit like the sun blocked the daytime visibility of stars. The teen psychic groaned, and plugged in the monitor just as the main culprit walked into base.

Lin noticed that Mai was still working with the same equipment, and raised an eyebrow. "Surely you no longer need this much time to place one screen, Mai-san."

His student glared. "Of course not," she hissed. "I heard something weird, and then I sensed something. I was _trying_ to pin it down when you and your _shiki_ screwed up the connection."

The Chinese _onmyouji_ raised a surprised eyebrow. "I haven't given them any orders."

"Yeah, but they're still hanging around you!" Mai griped. "I know that's their job and everything – but so many auras can get in the way of locating a weak spirit."

"So there_ is_ a spirit?" Naru's monotone voice asked from behind her.

"Yeah," Mai nodded. "I'm pretty sure there's something here. I heard a weird noise, too – like something heavy grinding on stone. I'm not sure what it means, though."

Naru pushed himself off the wall and went for his case notebook. "There are several reports of furniture moving around by itself," he reminded Mai. "Perhaps it's happened again."

"That would be an unusually quick response," Lin noted idly. "We should set up as quickly as possible."

But Mai shook her head, staring blankly at the nearest wall as if she could see through it. "No, that's not it," she said quietly.

"Your instincts again?" Naru asked.

Mai could feel his laser-sharp eyes on her face. "No... I can still hear the noise," she replied. "And if you guys can't... then it's got to be the spirit."

"It hasn't 'got' to be anything," Naru intoned. "You could just have better hearing than either of us. This is why human experience does not equal scientific proof."

"_Hai, Professor-sama_," Mai said snidely.

Naru's return glare was off a little - some strange emotion swam through his sapphire gaze. Before Mai could comment on it, Naru blinked and the look was gone.

"Lin's right," he decreed. "We need to set up the equipment. Hopefully it will pick up the sound you're hearing." Naru raised an eyebrow. "Your best guess is 'something' grinding on stone?"

"Um, I think it's... metal!" Mai finally recognized. "Metal on stone." She knew that sound well, having dragged many a camera mount across garden walkways and stone foyers.

"Metal?" Naru repeated curiously. He flipped through his notes. "None of the affected furniture is metallic... and none of it is supported by metal." He locked gazes with Mai.

"I'm just telling you what I hear," Mai defended. "Besides, maybe they got new furniture."

Naru rolled his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous."

"Think about it, Naru," Mai joked. "Who would want to sit on a haunted couch?"

"Perhaps you should go check, then." Fake-smile at maximum, Naru handed Mai the stack of furniture photos. "Match these to the existing pieces."

"Wha – but Naru, can't we just _ask_ the clients if they got new furniture?" Mai whined.

"They've already left," Naru replied smugly. "You can take a few cameras, too – that should get us set up before dark." His smile widened as Mai sputtered in rage. "Unless your animal instincts actually _do_ prohibit you from multitasking."

Across the base, a resigned Lin sat down at the only working monitor and rubbed his temples. This was going to be a long night.

"You can't order me around!" Mai reminded Naru. "Madoka's the boss, not you!"

"Madoka's not here right now," Naru retorted smugly.

"Then why can't Lin be the boss?" Mai huffed. She turned to her teacher for support... and the _onmyouji_ continued to click away at the program he was starting. "I know you can hear me, Lin!" Mai said sternly. "You're not even wearing headphones!"

Without looking away from the computer, Lin plucked a pair of headphones from the table and set them on his head.

"Traitor," Mai hissed.

"Aware of the pecking order," Naru contended.

_Unwilling to get involved_, Lin corrected silently.

"A lead investigator should strive for efficiency, Mai," Naru taunted. "You're wasting time."

"A lead investigator should also follow a safety plan," Mai replied sweetly. "Nobody heads out alone, remember?" The teen psychic made a show of looking girly, cocking her head to the side and batting her eyes. "So why don't you come and protect me, _Boss?_"

She was expecting Naru to roll his eyes and order her out of the base... so when his eyes popped wide and his jaw went slack, Mai was totally thrown off her game. Naru stood like a statue for another moment... and then whipped a camera off of the shelf before race-walking to the door.

"I suppose you do need constant supervision, Mai," he said tonelessly.

"Wait, are you actually – NARU!" Mai grabbed whatever equipment was nearest and ran after him. "Wait up!"

Lin waited until their footsteps faded to chuckle darkly. "Like I said," he muttered to the empty room. "Just leave Noll alone, and he'll work it out."

-0O0-

Naru stood alone in the Banderson study. And despite his collected movements and calm expression, inside he was anything but. _Idiot, idiot, idiot_, he raged internally.

While one of Naru's most-used epithets for others, he very rarely had cause to label _himself_ an idiot. His behavior in base, however, warranted the unusual remonstrance.

What was _wrong_ with him? Even if Naru argued that these... _anomalies_ regarding his relationship with Mai were simply as-yet-uncategorized mental glitches, the frequency of such _anomalies_ was only increasing.

Now, if it were _that..._ it would make sense for occurrences to increase with growing awareness.

But it couldn't be _that_, Naru told himself sternly.

_WHY couldn't it be that? _his logical side argued. _It is decidedly unscientific to reject a viable possibility._ Naru was nothing if not logical... and was forced to concede this point.

His thoughts celebrated by continuing mercilessly. _Considering the amount of evidence, insisting 'it couldn't be THAT' smacks of emotion-fueled denial. _

"Emotion-fueled _denial?_" he hissed disbelievingly. Beyond frustrated, Naru slammed the thermographic camera onto a corner table so forcefully that the furniture rattled.

Closing his eyes and exhaling deeply, Naru groped for his vaunted control – and found himself grateful that Mai had run off to the room next door.

-0O0-

_Just one more and we're done_, Mai told herself.

The transfer student adjusted her hold on the last camera, quite relieved to be nearly done. Despite her years of experience, Mai still managed to break more than her fair share of cameras, screens and other expensive toys.

It didn't help that she was pissed at Naru, either – Mai's klutz attacks only got worse when she was angry. What was _with_ him today? All Mai did was brush some dust off his sleeve - and Naru shrank back like she was diseased. When he'd started in on her about priorities, Mai had stormed off.

Needing a distraction, Mai looked around the solarium she had wandered into. The view was lovely – several large windows looked out over the property's hills, and Mai could see the tips of mountains in the distance. It was late afternoon, and the sun was dipping slowly toward the horizon. Mai reckoned that watching the sunset from this room would be amazing.

The beautiful view calmed Mai down enough to get going. Without further ado, she put the camera on a nearby couch and set up the tripod that would support it. The tripod legs screeched a bit on the stone floor of the solarium, reminding Mai of the scraping sound she kept hearing.

That she heard right now.

Mai swallowed hard, suddenly wanting to call for Naru.

_Stop it, Mai_, she chastised herself._ You're a professional – act like one! _Squaring her shoulders, Mai refocused and reached for the camera. She was extra careful not to drop it onto the stone below. The camera would probably shatter on impact - and given the mood Naru was in, Mai would _never_ hear the end of it.

She aimed the camera so that it would pick up the maximum area of space in the solarium. Mai almost called out to Naru for a double-check on the angle... but she didn't want him to think she needed his okay. Whether Naru liked it or not, Mai took orders from Madoka now.

Once again, Mai wondered how Naru stomached his subordinate position. He'd _obviously_ rather run SPR operations himself. And though Naru clearly respected Madoka's abilities, the two ghost hunters had completely opposite personalities. Mai imagined that accepting her leadership after running SPR Japan was a tough pill for Naru to swallow.

_Even if Luella DID ask Martin not to promote Naru to lead investigator,_ Mai thought, _would Martin hold him back forever?_ The leader of the other SPR team was good, but he wasn't at Naru's level. And even though Naru could be a moody pain in the ass (like right now), Mai knew that virtually everyone at SPR greatly respected him and would gladly be a part of his team.

Mai sighed. Such mollycoddling might eventually sour Naru's relationship with his adopted parents. However, Mai had no trouble understanding Luella's overprotective behavior. Luella had already lost one son, and Naru could be pretty reckless on cases. And considering what happened when he used his powers...

_Ugh_, Mai groaned internally. Thinking about Naru's powers only made her feel guilty. After all, she could be the answer to Naru's troubles.

And the more Mai thought about it, the more she didn't want to wait until Naru hurt himself to use the transfer!

Mai clenched her fists. _Gene said it's the only way_, she reminded herself. And Gene knew Naru better than anyone.

The distracted psychic shook herself, and bent to turn on the camera. As Mai's knees came into contact with the floor, she shivered slightly – the solarium was pretty cold for a room with so many windows. Then again, a stone floor probably would stay pretty cold.

Stone. The word triggered Mai's memory again. "Like metal being dragged over stone," she murmured.

And as if answering her call, the dragging noise got louder. Mai searched the room, half-expecting to see furniture wiggling.

Nothing moved... but the noise ground on.

Then something moved at the far end of the room. Something translucent.

Mai thumbed her walkie-talkie with shaking fingers. _Of course_ she had to be alone when the ghost showed its ugly face.

Naturally, the instant that thought crossed Mai's mind, a twisted, bloody face appeared in the thickening air. A woman's face. As Mai watched with wide eyes, a torso appeared... also bloody, and clad in a torn-open, ragged dress. Mai held down the talk button, opened her mouth to yell... and suddenly, her throat closed.

Mai _was_ frightened, but she wasn't too scared to speak. _The ghost must be doing it_. She was obviously much stronger than Mai had guessed.

The woman lifted a slowly-forming arm towards Mai, and the teen could see that her mouth was moving. But Mai couldn't hear anything over the dragging noise. And the noise only got louder as the spirit moved closer to Mai. Something - maybe a length of rope? - looped around the woman's wrists and trailed to the floor.

Mai frantically pressed the talk button as the bloody woman drifted closer... and closer... the temperature was dropping rapidly... she didn't want to use the Nine Cuts on a spirit right away, but...

The sound of running feet echoed in the hallway, and the spirit turned her head. Mai's voice unsealed itself just as Naru careened into the room, followed closely by Lin.

The spirit gave Mai a last look - and vanished. But the scraping noise kept on scraping.

Naru moved quickly to Mai, and examined her with clinical eyes. "What happened?" he asked quickly.

"How did you know to come?" Mai asked stupidly. She wasn't sure what was overwhelming her more – the events of the last couple of minutes, or Naru's sudden closeness and concern.

"My walkie-talkie kept buzzing, but all I heard was static," Lin replied. Static usually meant trouble on ghost hunts.

Mai nodded, relieved. "I couldn't talk – I think she was cutting off my voice somehow."

"She?" Naru asked.

"Yes. There's definitely a ghost, and it's definitely a woman," Mai replied, trying to ignore the ghostly sounds. "I saw her face and her long hair and she was bloody – the blood was like silver stains on her face and chest."

"What's that noise?" Lin asked suddenly.

"Now you can hear it, too?" Mai wondered. Lin nodded, looking around with careful eyes. "I'm still not sure," she admitted. "It's the same noise as before, only much louder. And it was even louder when the ghost was actually visible. I think she's making the noise, but I don't know why."

"It does sound like something dragging," Naru noted.

"Yeah, and I think it's supposed to have something to do with the stone floor in here," Mai said. Both men looked at her. "I whispered something about it right before the ghost appeared."

"This_ is_ the only stone we've encountered," Naru noted, glancing around the room. "And this much activity usually indicates the presence of a strong spirit. However, you could barely sense this woman until she was right in front of you. Two contradictory pieces of evidence." Naru's eyes burned with intensity. He did love an interesting puzzle.

Especially one which drew his attention away from _other_ troubling issues.

Mai just nodded, breathing heavily. "I'm not sure what to think... but I'm also kinda freaked out. How about we go back to base, and I'll make some tea?"

Naru stared at Mai's shaky form for a moment, and nodded.

-0O0-

But the day wasn't quite over yet.

"And then what happened?" Gregory asked eagerly.

"Well, Ayako tried to exorcise them herself - but she's kind of useless when there aren't any trees around." Mai rolled her eyes. "And John-kun wasn't on that case, so we had to wait for Bou-san. In retrospect, it probably wasn't a good idea to send the most defensively useful team member out to get food."

"Of course it wasn't," Naru snapped.

Mai and Gregory turned as one to face the interloper. "No one's talking to you, Naru," Mai huffed. "Stop being a jerk."

Gregory raised an eyebrow. He'd heard the rumors, but actually seeing Mai Taniyama talk back to the feared Oliver Davis was quite something. And Dr. Davis' reaction was even more shocking - he just rolled his eyes and went back to watching the monitors. _So the rumors are true_. Gregory fought the urge to report this amazing event to the other SPR interns via mass text.

"Anyway," Mai continued. "All of a sudden, everything got really quiet."

"Uh-oh," Madoka laughed.

"Yeah," Mai agreed. "Ayako and I kept looking around the room, wondering where the ghost would pop up... we certainly didn't expect it to pop into Masako-chan and try to strangle everything in sight."

"She was possessed?" Gregory asked.

"It happens more often than you'd think," Mai shrugged. "Masako-chan is a medium."

"I know," Gregory smiled. "I've seen the show."

"Really?" Mai smiled back. "I've actually gone to a bunch of her shoots!"

"No way!"

"It's true!" Mai insisted. "Masako-chan invites me along sometimes. If she thinks that the building she's investigating is too dangerous for her crew, Bou-san and I come and do a walk-through. If there's something really bad, I find it for Bou-san, and he exorcises it."

"That's _awesome_," Gregory enthused. "But wait, you still have to finish the first story!"

Mai laughed, choking a little on her noodles. "Hold on, let me finish chewing!"

"Yes, chew your food, Mai," Naru muttered quietly. "I'd prefer not to practice the Heimlich maneuver this evening."

Madoka wasn't sure which was funnier – Mai's story, or Noll's jealousy.

"I heard that, Naru!" Mai complained.

Naru rolled his eyes. "Yet you didn't hear me ask if you'd checked the temperature readings."

"I must have been busy," Mai sniffed.

"You were," Naru said icily. "You were busy talking with Gregory."

Mai frowned – did Naru have a problem with Gregory? He'd been nothing but helpful so far...

Across the room, Madoka coughed to cover her laughter. Noll was so obvious that even _Mai_ noticed.

"Oh, well," Gregory himself interrupted, "I already recorded the temperatures, Dr. Davis." He held up a sheet of paper covered with numbers. "So no harm done."

_That's what you think_, Lin thought.

Meanwhile, Naru had caught Mai's puzzled look and internally smacked himself. Though he was a rather indifferent person, Naru knew his current outright hostility was unwarranted. Mai was just being Mai - and they were eating, not actively investigating. And Gregory _was_ troublingly cavalier about the dangers of ghost hunting, but he was also helpful and reasonably intelligent.

So Naru was somewhat perplexed by his strong desire to throw a plate of noodles at the newcomer.

But not as perplexed as he would like.

"Give it here," Naru grumbled, holding out his hand for the temperature readings.

Gregory started to rise from his chair, but Mai waved him back down. "Ignore him - you don't have to walk it over there. He's just in a foul mood tonight." Snatching the paper from Gregory's frozen hand, Mai held it to Naru.

"Don't foist your insubordinate habits onto others," Naru admonished.

"_Insubordinate?_ In case you've forgotten in the last hour," Mai hissed through her teeth. "_You aren't my boss anymore_, Naru." Seriously, what was _with_ him? It was like their relationship had suddenly gone back to their first day of working together. "Is Lin's ankle sprained?" Mai asked angrily.

"Pardon?" Naru asked, genuinely confused.

"Did I knock a bookcase into Lin this afternoon?" Mai elaborated. "Because that was the last time you were this consistently nasty to me!"

Naru bit back his retort. Mai picked the most annoying times to be right.

"I think," Madoka interrupted, "The takeaway here is not to let one's internal disquiet ruin everyone else's day." She gave Noll a long look.

Mai's eyebrows rose in surprise. Was Madoka insinuating that Naru was actually upset about something? She glanced over to the pissy narcissist in question.

Naru said nothing. His 'internal disquiet' had become _external..._ to the point that the temperamental Madoka was taking _him_ to task for letting emotions overtake his judgment.

Without further ado, Naru rose from his chair and marched out of the base.

"Wait, Naru!" Their extremely recent argument flew from Mai's mind as she raced out after him. "You're not supposed to go alone!" The only time anyone (Mai) had been alone in this house, the ghost had appeared.

Gregory watched as Mai ran down the dimly-lit hallway. "Should we... do something?" he asked hesitantly.

"No," Madoka replied firmly. "Best to let Mai sort him out."

"I don't quite understand," Gregory revealed confusedly. "Dr. Davis is so... _aloof_ at the office." Though Gregory _had_ heard some horror stories about Oliver's responses to date requests from co-workers at SPR. Apparently, one particularly forward intern had been banished from Dr. Davis' office - permanently. On the whole, the only SPR employee deemed less approachable than Oliver Davis was Mr. Lin (who was certainly maintaining his detached reputation; he hadn't even reacted when Mai mentioned him directly).

Madoka smiled brightly. "Yes, well... everyone has their watershed moments," she said cryptically.

"And Dr. Davis' involve _temperature readings?_" Gregory asked incredulously.

"No," Madoka said succinctly.

Her new assistant-slash-gopher continued to stare in confusion.

"Record the temperatures in the computer log, and get ready for the night watch," Madoka ordered. "You're on base duty tonight." _In other words, none of your business_.

Gregory got the message. "Yes, ma'am."

-0O0-

"Naru!" Mai called out behind him.

Oliver ignored her. As Mai was the crux of his current dilemma, he doubted that further interaction with her would bring any solace.

"Wait up!"

He walked faster.

"Naruuuuu! Can't you just – AAAAAH!"

Naru had already turned around at Mai's scream; the almighty crash that followed only quickened his steps. "Mai!" he snapped, blinking in the darkness. His eyes had been so focused on the brightly-lit bathroom at the end of the corridor, that the darkness around him looked deeper.

He felt along the hallway until his eyes adjusted – Mai was sprawled out on the floor a couple of feet away, her hands pressed against her left side. Naru knelt down beside her, and squinted down at her torso. There didn't seem to be any blood. "Are you injured?" he asked quietly.

"Not... not really," Mai said, rubbing her gloved hands over her ribs. "I just landed on my side, and that rib is a little tender." She winced. "You know, from when I fell down the stairs."

"You mean when you were pushed down the stairs," Naru corrected. He looked up into Mai's eyes. "Did a spirit cause your fall?" he asked seriously.

Mai shook her head. "I don't think so," she answered slowly. "I didn't sense anything when I fell." She closed her eyes. "There's nothing nearby now, either."

Naru nodded, struck by the certainty in her voice. In the past, Mai would have been too flustered by his nearness to manage such a coherent response.

The disappointment that this thought engendered was almost as unwelcome as Mai's fall. Naru closed his eyes, pushing the ridiculous feelings away.

Then a warm brush of something soft invaded his personal space. Naru's eyes snapped open to see Mai's black-gloved hand on his arm. Just like before, when she'd smiled and brushed the dust from his arm... He stared down uncomprehendingly until Mai's voice cut across the void.

"Naru... are _you_ alright?" she asked softly. "You've been so... moody today, and then Madoka said –"

"Ignore her," Naru snapped.

"But Naru –"

"Madoka is just meddling," he hissed with finality. "One would think that she'd be more concerned with the case than with petty emotional drama."

"So there_ is_ something wrong?" Mai gasped. Naru hadn't denied having 'petty emotional drama.'

"No," Naru replied with a finality he didn't feel. And the fact that Mai was still holding his arm was only clouding his mind further. "Let go," he bit out.

Mai retracted her hand like she'd been burned, and deep embarrassment overcame the tingles of excitement she'd felt at touching him. "S-sorry," she murmured. She _knew_ Naru was uncomfortable with physical contact. Mai groaned softly. Her ribs and knees hurt, she'd tripped over nothing _again_, and now instead of helping Naru with whatever he was struggling with (her real reason for following him), she'd probably made it worse. Mai turned her face away, not wanting Naru to see her tear up.

Oliver Davis closed his eyes and tried to block out the image of Mai's hurt face and watery eyes. He wasn't sure what he'd do if she started crying, but it would probably be foolish. He'd been nothing _but_ foolish all day.

Oddly, this realization calmed Naru down. He opened his eyes, cleared his throat, and steeled himself for the heartbreakingly depressed look Mai would be wearing when she faced him.

She didn't disappoint. Mai's eyes were swimming with tears, and Naru felt something twist inside him.

"You're right," he said, staring straight into Mai's eyes. "I've been very abrupt today. I'm... trying to understand something, and I shouldn't take my impatience with myself out on you."

Mai reckoned he even apologized like a narcissist; completely sure of himself and totally unabashed about declaring his self-examination to her. It still totally hit her right in the heart. Mai racked her brain for something un-pathetic to say. "So be nice, Narcissist."

"I'm never nice, Mai," Naru replied. Hadn't he already explained that he was the 'bad' twin?

"You're nice a lot, Naru," Mai argued feelingly, hearing thepessimism in Naru's voice.

This comment set off an immediate, internal tug-of-war. Half of Naru wanted to flee this Very Confusing Situation. The other half wanted very much to ask Mai to elaborate.

Could it really be... _that?_

Mai waited him out; Naru was obviously thinking very hard about something. And she would sit here all night if it meant he would open up to her.

-0O0-

"Shouldn't we at least check on them or something?" Gregory wondered. "I mean, we can't even see them on the monitors."

"They're fine," Madoka replied tersely. Covertly, she glanced at Lin. "They're fine, right?" she whispered.

Lin nodded. "My _shiki_ just returned - they're arguing, but they're physically fine."

"Even though Mai-chan screamed?"

"Apparently, she tripped." Lin smirked.

"So, arguing and tripping over nothing." Madoka moaned quietly. "Par for the course, then."

-0O0-

Naru avoided Mai's too-clear gaze. While his repeated denials were losing their vehemence, Mai was the very last person with whom Naru could discuss _that_.

A disappointed Mai knew she was losing him – she could practically see Naru folding back into himself before her eyes. Desperately, she grasped at the threads of their conversation. "Maybe I could help?" she asked swiftly.

Naru clenched his teeth. _No, you definitely couldn't_.

"I _want_ to help," Mai declared.

"_Help_," a voice repeated behind her.

Mai twisted around, expecting to see Madoka – the voice had been female.

But there was no one there.

-0O0-

AN: Happy Almost St. Patrick's Day, from a person of Irish heritage whose family celebrates with spaghetti and meatballs every year! (We all hate corned beef and cabbage.)

I'm also excited to report I got a new job! It's going to take a while to adjust to the new schedule (earlier hours, ugh) and I don't get Fridays off anymore, but it's more money and a nicer environment, so I'm really quite thrilled.

Oh, and a message for my wonderfully patient readers - since this chapter was originally longer and I cut off a big chunk, I don't think the next update will take so long:)


	34. Chapter 34

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Manga 12 would be out in English.**

Chapter 34 – A Long Night's Journey into Day

-0O0-

Mai searched the dark hallway with her eyes and her senses - where was the ghost?

"Mai. What is it?" Naru asked urgently.

"There's no one there," Mai said, talking more to herself than to Naru.

"Should there be?" Naru registered a sudden chill in the air. Mai had to be sensing a spirit... but for whatever reason, she couldn't see it.

"I heard a voice," Mai explained, eyes scanning the deceptively empty hallway. "It was a woman's voice... and it sounded really close, like she was right behind me. But I can barely feel her..."

Naru fought down the impulse to get between Mai and the spirit. She hadn't taken too kindly to that last time. _Besides_, he reminded himself, _she's a professional now, not a wide-eyed assistant._ However... "We should stand up," he decided, rocking back onto his heels. "In case we need to retreat."

Mai nodded in agreement, and held out a hand for Naru to take. He could pull her up while she kept an eye out for the spirit.

Naru barely hesitated before grabbing Mai's hand and pulling her up close beside him. Now was not the time to be ridiculous about proximity. "Do you see anything yet?" he whispered.

A shiver of heat ran down Mai's spine at hearing Naru's low (sexy) voice in her ear. His nose brushed against her hair, and goose bumps pricked all along her neck at the feel of his breath on her skin. Mai wondered how – _FOCUS!_ "What?" she asked stupidly.

Naru almost knocked his head against the wall. "_Do you see anything?_" he asked again, each word clear and slow as if spoken to someone hard of hearing.

Mai blushed. "No!" she hissed back. "But she's definitely in this hallway."

Naru's mind raced. "You said she spoke," he remembered.

"Yeah, I said I wanted to help you, and then I heard someone else say 'help.'"

"_Help!_" a panicked female voice sobbed.

"Naru! I just heard it again!" Mai gripped Naru's hand more tightly, wanting fervently to remove her glove so she could actually feel Naru's palm against hers. Mai could really use a better psychic connection to his calming energy right now – she _hated_ not being able to see a spirit. It was much more frightening.

Too busy thinking to monitor his own actions, Naru squeezed Mai's hand reassuringly. Mai's silk-covered fingers curled more tightly around his in response.

_Wait – response!_ Naru sucked in a sharp breath. "Mai," he whispered. "Say 'help' again."

"Wha – never mind." Mai knew better than to question Naru at a time like this. "Help," she called loudly.

"_HELP!_" the crying voice repeated, much louder now.

"Naru, it –"

"I know, I heard it this time." Naru seemed to grow taller behind her, and Mai couldn't help but admire his fortitude under pressure. "Now say it again – but get ready to use Bou-san's chant."

Mai nodded, reluctantly releasing Naru's hand in order to form the symbol of _Fudo Myoo_. She stared hard at the empty hallway, and took a deep breath. "Help!" she cried.

"_HEEEELP!_" the voice screamed desperately. This time, the cry was followed by a strange, ringing noise - like the sound of metal striking metal.

As Mai opened her mouth to speak, the walls started shaking. The floor rocked underneath her, and Mai lost her stance and fell backwards into Naru. She felt his arm go around her waist, and his body bumped hers as they hit the wall.

Naru absorbed as much of the impact as he could, angling his hip to keep Mai upright. As the shaking eased up a bit, Naru adjusted his hold on Mai and gritted out, "Again. Loud enough that they can hear us in base." They might need a rescue.

He felt Mai's preparatory breath more than heard it. "HELP!" she screamed.

"_HEEEEEELP!_" This time, the responding scream was accompanied by a humongous, echoing crash. And then the floor rumbled, the walls shook, the bathroom light exploded, and Mai threw her body backwards so hard that both of them fell over.

As Naru hit the floor, the unnaturally bright figure of a furious man flew right overhead. _That must have been why Mai tipped us over, _he thought. Naru pulled Mai off of his body and onto the floor – further away from the ghost.

Mai started chanting next to him, and Naru wondered where on Earth everyone else was. Surely they'd noticed all the shaking and screaming. Not to mention, Lin's _shiki_ should have informed the _onmyouji_ that there was trouble.

"HEEEELP!" a woman's voice screamed. The sound seemed to reverberate right through Naru... but Mai barely even paused in her chant. Naru didn't even have time to be impressed before Mai raised an arm. "_Rin!_" she cried. "_Pyou! Tou!_"

Suddenly, the man appeared again – but this time, he was standing on the rollicking floor, facing them. "Help?" he sneered, face cold with rage. "It's too late!"

Mai was undeterred. "_Sha! Kai! Jin!_" she yelled.

The man's face twisted. "Too late!" he roared, silvery blood dripping from his hands as he clenched his fists. Floorboards snapped on either side of them, and Mai screamed in shock at the noise. Naru rolled onto his hip, shielding Mai from the flying splinters and using his unencumbered arm to drag them backwards towards the open doorway he'd seen on the right.

And then he noticed the second ghost.

"It's the woman!" Mai screamed over the din. "From before!"

The woman wasn't looking at them, Naru realized, and followed her line of sight to the male ghost. The first figure looked up at the woman.

"Naru!" Mai cried. "His aura!"

"What about –" Naru's question died on his lips as bright flashes of light shot down the hallway. One of Lin's _shiki_ exploded through the angry man, and Naru closed his eyes as the blinding ball of white rocketed over them and went for the second ghost.

Mai buried her face in Naru's shoulder, whimpering at both the sudden brightness and the pain she could sense in the air.

Suddenly, the spirits disappeared from Mai's radar... and the floor stopped shaking. Naru's grip on her back fell slack, and Mai rolled out of his hold. She pulled herself into a sitting position just as Madoka helpfully shined a flashlight in their faces.

"Noll! Mai! Are you alright?" the master ghost hunter asked breathlessly.

"Yes," Mai answered, trying to be sneaky about rubbing her aching ribs.

"What took you so long?" Naru asked waspishly.

Madoka breathed a sigh of relief - if Noll was bitching, it meant he was okay. "We couldn't get to you," she told him. "The base door shut right after the monitors went dead, and we couldn't get it open."

"The monitors went dead?" Mai asked. That made sense – the only camera she could see had fallen over.

Then someone ran past her. Mai heard the flick of a switch – and the lights came on. She twisted around to see Gregory over by the bathroom.

"Found the light," he said unnecessarily.

Naru ignored him. "Did the cameras die before or after the shaking started?" he wondered.

"I'm not sure," Madoka answered. "None of that happened in base."

"Are you saying we were hallucinating?" Mai asked incredulously. "That couldn't be – look, the floor's all broken." She pointed to the spot where she and Naru had lain.

"It _did_ happen, Mai-san – but _we_ only felt it after entering this hallway," Lin informed his student. "Everything was focused in this one area. Nothing shook or broke anywhere else in the house."

"That could indicate that whatever happened in this house, happened right here," Naru noted, his sharp eyes taking in the damage to the walls and floor. "Or it could be that the ghosts simply destroy whatever is nearest at the time."

Mai nodded. "The clients took pictures of broken furniture all over the house," she reminded the team. "So I'd go with Naru's second option."

"I tentatively agree," Madoka said as she surveyed the hallway. Her gaze eventually returned to Mai and Noll – both of whom looked like they'd been through a hurricane. "Since whatever happened appears to be over, you two should get cleaned up."

Then Madoka noticed something interesting - Noll and Mai didn't seem to realize that they were still touching.

So when Noll extended a hand to Mai (like it was normal), and Mai took it with a grateful smile (like it was normal), Madoka grinned inwardly.

When Mai shyly asked Noll if his back was okay, and Noll looked back at her with soft eyes and told her he was fine, Madoka's inward grin became an outward one.

And when Noll softly asked Mai if her ribs were hurting as he led Mai past their rescuers, Madoka squealed under her breath.

Lin threw her a patronizing look – and made sure to step between his meddlesome girlfriend and the recently attacked psychics. Mai and Noll had been through enough for one night.

Madoka motioned Gregory over, and pointed to the peacefully chatting duo up ahead. "See? Told you she'd sort him out."

"Are you sure it was Taniyama, and not the intense ghost attack?" Gregory asked skeptically.

Madoka looked down the hall. As Mai turned to head into base, she winced in pain and clapped a hand on her side. In an instant, Noll had his arm across Mai's back. Without even saying something stupid, he took most of Mai's weight and led her slowly into base.

"Ohhh yeah," Madoka assured her intern. "It was definitely Mai-chan."

-0O0-

"What is it, Noll?" Gene asked tiredly.

"I wanted to – what's wrong?" Naru studied his brother's ghostly form in the mirror. As there had been two major incidents today - and it was only the first day of the case - Naru had deemed it prudent to call on Gene for information. But his brother seemed... _off_ tonight. Gene's eyes were tired, almost angry.

"Nothing's wrong," Gene said tersely.

A sliver of fear knifed its way through Naru. "Are you sure?" he asked carefully. "You seem... upset."

Gene couldn't help rolling his eyes. _Of course_ he was upset – Mai had just confessed to telling Lin about the transfer!

The spirit guide gritted his teeth. _Lin_, of all people – was Mai _insane?_ Lin was a snitch! He had always tattled to Martin about anything 'bad' the twins did during training – even when their misbehavior was only _slightly_ dangerous! Seriously, _what_ was Mai _thinking?_

"Gene?" Noll's worried voice interrupted the spirit guide's inward raging.

Wait, Noll sounded_ worried?_ If Lin knew, then Noll had to know... shouldn't he be foaming at the mouth right now?

Gene pursed his lips. The fallout from the secret-spirit-guiding debacle had been pretty explosive; Noll had started ranting before Gene even manifested enough to hear properly. And as the transfer was a _much_ bigger deal, it was safe to assume that Noll's reaction would be correspondingly huger... was it possible that Noll still didn't know?

Cautiously, Gene dipped into Noll's emotional state. It was very difficult to get in without also dropping his own mental shield, but giving Noll access to his current thoughts would be quite counterproductive. Luckily, Gene didn't need to fully open their connection to get a sense of Noll's feelings.

And to Gene's great surprise, he felt no anger in his brother. Just worry, fatigue, and confusion. Which meant that Mai was right – Lin was keeping his mouth shut.

All the same, Eugene found Lin's unexpected discretion to be more disquieting than reassuring. Lin had _never_ sided with People Doing Risky Things... except when Madoka did them. Now there was a thought – Madoka and Lin were apparently dating now... maybe Madoka's personality had rubbed off on him? Perhaps he was even pulling a Madoka, and _saving_ the 'revelation' for the right moment... "Noll?" Gene asked. "Has Lin recently adopted any of Madoka's character traits?"

_Where had that come from?_ Naru examined his deceased twin's face for signs of spiritual insanity. "Have you finally stayed too long in the 'realm of lingering spirits?'" Naru spoke with deliberate sarcasm to mask the seriousness of his question.

As usual, Gene saw right through him. "Nice try, Noll," he rolled his eyes. "And no, I haven't. I was just... idly wondering whether dating Madoka has changed Lin in any way." He smiled brightly for effect.

"No, you weren't," Naru said flatly. "Now stop being facetious, and explain yourself."

"You know, Noll, perhaps adopting a more caring, encouraging approach would get you better answers," Gene noted mockingly.

"My current approach seems to have gotten you back to normal," Naru replied archly. "However normal a stubbornly lingering spirit can be, of course..."

Gene scoffed. "Ugh, Noll, would you _stop_ worrying over my spiritual health already?" he complained. The idiot scientist was only becoming more determined to figure Gene out, at _exactly_ the moment secrecy was most necessary. "Aren't there tons of case-related things you could be doing right now?"

"I actually called you because I need information the ghost in this residence," Naru retorted peevishly. "Your strangely negative attitude distracted me."

His brother only rolled his eyes again. "How unexpectedly unnecessary of you, Noll. I told Mai-chan everything I know about this haunting right before you called me."

"You saw Mai tonight?" Naru almost winced at the resentful edge to his question.

"Obviously," Gene replied, annoyed all over again as he remembered Mai's confession and her unshakable belief that telling Lin was a good idea. "I _am_ her spirit guide." Then Gene noticed his brother's suddenly mutinous face. "Are you _still_ upset about that?"

Naru really wanted to say no. He also really wanted to deny that the hot swoop of emotion burning in his chest was jealousy. _There has to be another explanation_, he thought almost desperately. It can't be _that_.

Meanwhile, Gene took Noll's silence as affirmation. "Seriously, Noll? You know, _this_ is why no one tells you anything. You're so _sulky_."

_Of course I am_, Naru agreed silently, _which is why Mai loves the 'perkier' Davis twin_.

And where did _that_ stupid thought come from?!

Gene watched interestedly as a series of odd facial twitches worked their way across Noll's face... and decided a closer link to his brother's thoughts was in order. Noll looked too busy thinking to notice his presence, anyway. Carefully pushing any thoughts of the transfer from his mind, Gene opened his mental link with Noll...

And a barrage of anger, confusion and jealousy hit Gene smack in the face.

_Huh_. Gene had expected the anger. And though confusion was an interesting departure for the intelligent and confident Oliver Davis, it was the roiling jealousy that held Gene's attention.

_What exactly is Noll jealous of?_

As if on cue, Mai appeared in Noll's memory – wearing a soft look on her face, and talking about how nice 'dream Naru' was.

Then the vision shifted to Mai flouncing angrily past Noll – fists clenched and hissing about 'infuriating narcissists' under her breath. Gene noticed that Mai was wearing the same clothes she'd worn for their extremely recent argument about the transfer... this was probably Noll's memory of something that happened today.

So... Noll was jealous because Mai thought his twin was nice? _No_, Gene corrected himself. _Noll is jealous because Mai smiled about 'dream Naru,' but gets huffy and argumentative with Noll himself_. Gene snorted quietly. First of all, he was sure that anger and frustration weren't the _only_ emotions involved in Mai's interactions with Noll. They were just the most _recent_.

Besides, an extremely intelligent person like Noll _should_ recognize that Mai's strong reactions to him were signs of attraction... but Gene hadn't starting calling Noll an idiot scientist for nothing.

And an idiot scientist who doesn't even realize his _own _feelings would be even less likely to realize Mai's. _Ugh_, how could his incredibly observant brother be so unaware of what was going on in his own heart? Not for the first time, Gene considered trumping up some academic reason for Noll to kiss Mai – like 'to better understand emotional motivation,' or 'to gage the effect of intimate physical stimulus on emotionally unavailable scientists.'

Gene had a really good idea of how_ that_ experiment would turn out.

A moment later, though, his mischievous grin faded. Though kissing Mai would almost certainly drive Noll to understand his feelings (oh happy day), the overarching problem would remain. Oliver obviously still believed that Mai was in love with his deceased twin. Noll's unmistakable jealousy relayed that loud and clear.

_Then again_, Gene supposed, _Noll's being jealous at all is a step in the right direction_. But only a small step, since Noll seemed unclear about its emotional significance. With an internal sigh, Gene made to pull away from Noll's mind before his distracted twin realized he was there...

And then another wave of confusion flowed from Noll into Gene – and the memory of Mai stomping off superimposed itself into Gene's consciousness once more.

But this time, the memory lasted a bit longer – as Mai exited the room, her gloved hand brushed Noll's.

Not exactly what Gene would label 'intimate physical stimulus,' but... Noll was presently thinking about the way his skin had tingled where Mai touched him.

A sudden movement outside the mirror drew Gene's attention back to the present - Noll was shifting restlessly, staring down at his hand like he was waiting for it to offer an explanation.

Gene's eyes barely had time to widen before his mind was filled with an even more entertaining memory – a smirking Mai batted her eyes and cheekily asked Noll to 'come and protect her.' Gene almost laughed at Mai's fake-suggestiveness – she was obviously taking cues from that Yasuhara.

However, Noll's unexpected and unequivocally visceral response to Mai's baiting stopped Gene mid-snort. Had Noll actually gone _hormonal_ for a second?

_NO BLOODY WAY,_ Gene thought in disbelief. Was_ that_ why his emotions were so unbalanced right now? Did he even know how to_ process_ –

Noll suddenly ripped himself away from the memory with enough force that Gene's head spun. Oliver was trying very hard to think about something, _anything_ else... finally, Noll's focus landed on the current case. They'd already been attacked by two separate ghosts, and Noll needed answers.

Gene started to speak – but Noll's thoughts suddenly twisted again. Gene saw himself in Noll's mind, saying that he'd already given Mai all the information he had...

And then Noll's head was off to the races again. An imagined version of Mai having a grand old time with Gene in the spirit world bumped up against an actual memory of Mai talking about a 'special event' that synced her very closely to Gene... images raced past Gene's awareness at the rapid-fire pace Noll adopted when lining up evidence to fit a possible conclusion.

When the barrage of memories incited another wave of jealousy in Noll, Gene realized that he'd been wrong – Noll_ knew_ he was pissed about Mai's affection for Gene. It _wasn't_ that Noll was totally clueless... he just wasn't ready to accept what it all meant.

An amazed Gene pulled back into his own head. Was his twin _finally_ figuring out his feelings?

"Fine," Noll said tightly. "Since you've already spoken to Mai, I'll ask her in the morning. No need to keep you here."

Gene's head snapped up in alarm. _No!_ he cried internally, reaching out for Noll's mind again. He had to verify this Very Important Conclusion! "But Noll –"

"You're determined to be uncooperative, anyway," Naru cut him off, teeth clenched. "And I have case notes to look over."

_No, you have some thinking about Mai to do!_ Gene yelled telepathically. But Noll didn't hear – Gene had been too obvious about reaching into Noll's head this time, and his angry twin had mentally batted Gene away. "Noll!" he cried aloud.

It was too late – Noll had already broken the connection, and Gene felt himself drifting away. _Damn it_, he thought. _Hoisted by my own 'uncooperative' attitude_.

-0O0-

Mai groaned slightly as she tossed and turned in bed.

Her unhappy noises caught the attention of the other person in the room - Madoka abandoned the book she'd been reading, and went to sit beside the fitful psychic.

When Mai started shaking, Madoka silently assessed her options. She could wake Mai up - the girl was obviously having a nightmare. However, that nightmare was more than likely about the ghosts, in which case Madoka should probably leave her to ride it out. Mai would want to see it through... and Lin was still waiting on the family records of the old owners, so they _did_ need information.

However, Madoka could also talk to Mai while she slept and try to get information that way. Noll had done that on one of their cases – although his intention had been to pull Mai out of her nightmare rather than request a real-time interpretation of events.

But still, it couldn't hurt. "Mai-chan, can you hear me?" Madoka whispered.

No direct answer, although Mai's groaning increased in volume.

"Mai-chan, are you aware that you're –"

"No!" Mai suddenly shouted, "Please don't. I love him!" Mai's head jerked to the side hard and fast, like she'd been slapped. She whimpered in pain and threw her arms forward, almost whacking Madoka in the jaw. "Wait! No!" And then Mai's hands were grasping at her own throat, but not quite touching it. And choking noises erupted from her mouth.

_Okay, time to wake her up!_ Madoka reached out and shook Mai, calling out her name. But it wasn't working; Mai continued to gasp for air.

Then one of Mai's hands left her throat and edged along the sheets toward the edge of the bed. Following this trajectory, Madoka saw the water bottle on the bedside table. Without another thought, Madoka unscrewed the plastic container and threw its contents at her friend's contorted face.

Mai's eyes opened and she shot up in the bed, narrowly missing Madoka's panicked form. As Mai took in deep gulps of air, Madoka felt a cold presence brush by her. Mai had definitely been possessed by one of the ghosts. The female ghost, if Mai's words were anything to go by.

Mai coughed, rubbing her throat and wiping water from her face. She shivered, though all of her nerve endings felt like they were on fire. Her throat felt thick and pained, and her nightshirt was drenched. She glanced up and met Madoka's white face.

"Are you alright?" the master ghost hunter asked quietly, sounding much less composed than usual.

Mai nodded. The movement made the room wiggle oddly before her eyes, and Mai closed them to keep the dizziness at bay. "Yes," she whispered. The pain and thickness in her throat were already fading, and Mai forcefully reminded herself that it wasn't actually _her_ being murdered. Then the ghost - and actual murder victim - finally drifted out of the room, and Mai's shivering lessened immediately.

"I was the female spirit," Mai told Madoka, sounding calmer than she felt.

Madoka nodded. "I guess we know how she died – and why there are two ghosts. She and her killer are both trapped here."

"It was a love triangle," Mai elaborated. "And the man she left killed her." Peeling her wet shirt away from her body, Mai looked thoughtfully towards the bedroom door. "Should we go tell Naru?"

"He might be asleep," Madoka mused. "It _is_ two in the morning."

Mai shook her head... and nothing moved that wasn't supposed to. Excellent, that meant she could walk to base. "No, he's up. I can sense his aura... he's in the base with Lin."

Madoka raised an eyebrow. "You can sense that they're awake?" Never mind that she could recognize their individual auras so quickly...

"Yeah," Mai said, surprised at Madoka's question. "I mean, awake auras are... brighter than asleep ones." The teen psychic sighed. "I don't really know how to describe it... my senses just yell, 'Awake!' at me." She rolled her eyes. "It's confusing to explain."

Madoka grinned and ruffled Mai's hair. "That was a fine explanation. And we can practice some more in a minute, when you tell the guys about your dream." Then she paused. "Speaking of guys, isn't Greg in there, too?" He was supposed to be watching over the base, after all.

Mai cocked her head to the side, as if listening to something only she could hear. "No," she said finally. "I'm not really familiar with his aura yet, but there are definitely no other human auras near the base." Then her eyes lit up. "Oh, I found him! He's down the hall, sleeping."

The lead investigator clucked her tongue. "Interns," she grunted. "They beg for a chance to head into the field, and then fall asleep on duty."

"Don't be too hard on him, Madoka," Mai said placatingly. "Remember my first case? I broke a super-expensive camera... and Lin."

Madoka snorted. "True enough," she admitted. "Let's go, Mai-chan. I want to get back to sleep sometime tonight."

As Mai eased out of the bed, a wave of cold practically smacked her in the face. It was frigid in this house – and it wasn't just the ghosts. "Wow, it's chilly tonight," she said through suddenly chattering teeth.

The older woman scrutinized her employee-slash-friend, wondering if Mai's shivers were simple chills or a sign of shock. "Mai-chan – why don't you just stay in bed? You've just had a frightening experience; I can send the guys in here." Madoka winked and turned to leave – but a cold hand grasped hers. Alarmed, she looked back and realized it was Mai's hand – she was wearing her fingerless gloves tonight.

"Sorry," the teen psychic said sheepishly. "I just – I'm still a little freaked out. I don't like being alone after _those_ dreams."

Madoka smiled warmly and pulled Mai in for a hug. "It's alright. Just _watching_ you choking was pretty awful. We'll go together, then – and you stick close to me, okay?"

The warmth of Madoka's smile and aura spread through Mai's spooked form, and her shivering abated as they padded quietly down the hall.

-0O0-

"Wow, she's really out," Madoka noted. Mai's nightshirt was still wet from her impromptu wake-up bath, she'd stammered and shivered through explaining her dream, and she was actually sort of sitting up - yet somehow, Mai was sleeping soundly.

"Mai always sleeps like that," Naru griped. "At least when she's supposed to be working." Mai had been trying to explain how 'awake' and 'asleep' auras differed when Lin had noticed something on the monitors. By the time they established it was nothing to worry about, the group turned back around to find that Mai had dozed off.

"She's not 'supposed to be working' at two in the morning," Madoka returned snippily. "She _should_ be sleeping. And considering that Mai-chan just experienced a death dream that involved being strangled by an angry ex-lover..." Madoka bit back a grin as Naru's eyes snapped to Mai. She gave an inward cheer as Noll's expression visibly softened.

As if aware of his perusal, Mai chose that moment to stretch languidly, revealing her trim stomach and pushing out her chest. Naru froze for a moment before quickly looking away. He kept his eyes on the thermography readouts until Mai turned onto her stomach and burrowed into the couch cushions.

Then she shivered - and Naru noticed something odd. "Why is Mai's shirt wet?" he asked slowly.

"We decided to lighten things up with a wet t-shirt contest," Madoka replied seriously. She was thrilled to see Noll freeze again before snapping back to normal.

"You have been spending far too much time with Yasuhara," Naru accused. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lin nod in agreement.

"You give him too much credit," Madoka laughed. "Mai-chan hangs out with Yasu all the time, and she's not _nearly_ as pervy as I am."

As much as he hated giving Madoka the last word, Naru was absolutely _not_ going to comment on that.

Lin was of a similar mind. He decided to re-focus on the white noise in the attack-hallway.

Silence fell, and Madoka grinned in victory. "Right, then. When Mai started choking, I needed to wake her up. But I didn't want to smack her, and there was a water bottle right next to the bed."

"So you considered dumping water in her face _less_ jarring?" Naru asked incredulously. "The sting of a slap would have lasted a minute. Yet Mai's shirt is wet half an _hour_ later."

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Madoka muttered. Feeling suddenly guilty, the lead investigator pulled a spare blanket out of a nearby box and tucked it around Mai.

Naru's mind was caught between contentment and satisfaction – contentment that Mai would be more comfortable, and satisfaction that Madoka had given him an opening to castigate her. He was infinitely more comfortable with the satisfaction. "'It seemed like a good idea at the time,'" Naru repeated. "An explanation given throughout the ages to ameliorate failure."

He almost _felt_ Madoka's temper spike.

"I thought I told you to leave your attitude at the door," she snapped.

"I can't help that you make no sense." Naru leafed through a log of the day's events, waiting for the yelling.

Instead, Madoka just sighed heavily. "I want you to figure it out as badly the rest of us do, Noll," she said cryptically. "But _stop_ using everyone else as an outlet for your frustration."

Naru wanted to deny having any idea what she was on about – but he held his tongue. For all of her nonsense, Madoka Mori was exceptionally sharp... and Naru wasn't ready to hear corroboration of his as-yet-unconfirmed suspicions.

But to his former teacher, Naru's lack of speech was just as telling as a discussion would have been. Madoka studied her protégée with interest. Refusal to speak wasn't exactly strange for Oliver... but he usually reacted to Madoka's hints about unrealized feelings with confusion or scorn. More telling still, the look in Noll's eyes suggested that he knew _exactly_ what she was talking about.

The hunter in Madoka wanted to press the advantage, to force the truth out of Noll's head and into the world. But the Ph. D in Madoka warned her to keep quiet. If Noll was really almost there... then the last thing his self-realization needed was a spotlight.

"Here, Noll," Madoka said finally, holding up a sheet of paper. "What do you make of this police report?"

-0O0-

A quiet hour later, Madoka was ready to call it a night (again). Shifting in her chair, she studied Mai's peaceful form. Madoka didn't really want to wake her again; in the last twenty-four hours, Mai had two run-ins with ghosts and a psychic nightmare. She needed some uninterrupted sleep...

And then Madoka had a brilliant idea. She'd drag Koujo out with her, and Noll could stay in base with Mai! Maybe a few hours of staring at her adorable sleeping face would set off the emotional epiphany they were all waiting for!

Feeling eyes on him, Naru glanced up to find Madoka wearing her 'up to something' face. _Time for evasive maneuvers,_ Naru thought, wracking his brain for something to distract her. "Gene was odd this evening," he blurted out.

This statement drew the attention of both Madoka _and_ Lin. "What do you mean?" they asked simultaneously.

Naru silently declared victory. Not only had he pulled Madoka out of Plotting Mode, but his suddenly cooperative brain had brought up something he actually wanted to discuss.

And this sense of victory was in no way mixed with relief at having something to think about besides his personal... _quandary_. Right.

_Back on topic_. "I mean exactly that," Naru replied. "I spoke to Gene this evening, and he was behaving _oddly_."

Madoka's eyes returned to the sleeping psychic on the couch. "I wonder if Mai's noticed anything."

"If she did, she wouldn't tell me," Naru said sourly. "She's still skittish when it comes to Gene." _For whatever stupid reason_.

"Maybe Mai-chan thinks that talking about him hurts you," Madoka suggested.

"I've already told her it doesn't," Naru muttered. He was thinking about Mai laughing on the balcony as he'd told her stories about birthdays with Gene.

SPR's lead investigator pursed her lips. "Then do you reckon they're hiding something again?" Madoka's face was unusually serious.

Across the room, Lin stared hard at the monitors and willed his face not to give anything away.

Naru considered the question. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "Gene's not being _furtive _like before. I just feel like he's _off_, somehow."

"_Off_ as in spiritually troubled?" Madoka asked quickly. If Gene had stayed in limbo too long, his spirit could be in danger.

Not wanting anyone to see the concern in his eyes, Naru stared hard at the wall. "He was very short with me tonight. That's unusual for Gene."

Madoka was rapidly rethinking her decision not to wake Mai. Not only was Mai the only other person who could see Gene, but her psychic instincts were excellent. If Gene were going to the bad, Mai would almost certainly be able to sense it.

_Besides_, the master ghost hunter thought, _if Gene's 'oddness' IS another attempt to keep Noll out of the loop on something... then Mai is probably in on it_. _And she's easier to crack._

Naru followed the direction of Madoka's stare. "Mai saw Gene, too," he revealed sullenly. "Earlier this evening."

Madoka raised a suspicious eyebrow. "Funny, she didn't mention that."

Lin gritted his teeth. He knew what had probably happened. Despite his own vehement opposition, a guilt-ridden Mai had decided to inform Gene that she'd outed them. If Mai saw Gene first, then Gene's 'oddness' with Noll was probably just leftover anger over Mai's revealing the Big Secret.

The _onmyouji_ shook his head ruefully. Given Gene's insistence on secrecy, it would be quite ironic if the transfer were revealed to Naru via Gene's own lack of emotional control.

"The last time we spoke about Gene' spiritual health was the night Mai confessed to being in communication with him," Naru informed them. "She told me that Gene was fine." Even as he said this, Naru was mentally reviewing Mai's assurances from the evening in question. He was definitely _not_ thinking about how quickly his anger had dissolved under Mai's soulful gaze, or the way her touch on his arm had pulled all of his attention to their point of contact.

"_However_," Naru continued, forcibly yanking his thoughts down a more comfortable track, "Since Mai has become rather adept at concealment, I can't be _sure_ they aren't hiding something again."

Lin resisted the urge to glare at his sleeping student. He'd _told_ her not to say anything to Gene.

"We will ask about it when Mai-chan wakes up," Madoka directed. Noll didn't seem to think that Gene would go residual this very second, and Mai really did need some sleep.

Naru nodded slowly. It was only day one of the case, but Mai already been attacked by multiple ghosts_, _re-lived a violent death... and astral projected to Gene for 'spiritual guidance.' Naru's jaw clenched. "If Mai maintains that Gene's spirit is fine," he ground out, "Then they're probably up to something irresponsible."

"And probably dangerous," Madoka added grimly.

"When it comes to Mai, the two words are synonymous," Naru bit out. "And Gene's the same way. Odds are, they'll only encourage one another." Gene and Mai shared a troublesome personality trait - incredible lack of concern for their own well-being. The many possible ways that Mai could be _irresponsible_ with Gene made Naru's stomach twist. They made a very sacrificial-slash-reckless couple. Naru's stomach twisted harder.

Madoka raised an eyebrow, her concern for Gene's situation briefly overwhelmed by satisfaction at the jealous undertone in Noll's voice. That tortured-looking expression on his face was pretty interesting, too.

Now that Madoka fully understood Noll's emotional dilemma, evidence of it was very easy to spot. For example, Noll's extreme reaction to Mai's initial revelation about Gene made _so_ much more sense – he was mistakenly incorporating a romantic facet to Mai's secretly 'seeing' Gene. And now Noll was pissed because he thought Mai and Gene were doing dangerous things together behind his back. Emphasis on _together_. "Well, we'll make sure to ask what they've been 'up to' lately."

At this assertion, Lin decided enough was enough._ One_ conversation with a less-than-wary Gene had prompted a damn interrogation – and the longer Noll and Madoka talked about it, the worse their suspicions would get. With a discreet wave, Lin instructed one of his _shiki_ to wake Mai. Her stubbornness had caused this situation, so she could get them out of it.

He watched his _shiki_ slam hard against the edges of Mai's spiritual space... and less than a second later, the _qigong_ student rocketed upright with a shriek. Lin silently admired her reaction time as Naru and Madoka moved immediately to Mai's side.

"Mai-chan, what happened?" Madoka cried.

"Did you have another dream?" Naru asked quietly.

Mai was frozen in place, trying to simultaneously bring her freaked-out spirit energy under control and hear over the gong-like ringing in her ears.

Upon reflection, Lin figured he could have told his _shiki_ to be a little gentler...

"Are you alright?" Madoka ran a cool hand along Mai's flushed forehead.

Madoka's voice sounded tinny to Mai's over-sensitive hearing, but it was comprehensible enough. "Yes," Mai replied, her eyes on Lin's _shiki._ She tracked her attacker as it drifted to a stop behind Lin's shoulder... and why was Lin staring at her like she'd done something wrong?

Lin spoke as soon as Mai noticed him. "It's good that you're awake," he stated.

His low voice was much easier to understand than Madoka's, but... "Huh?" Mai ventured. Was that Lin's way of saying, 'Sorry I set my _shiki_ on you?'

"Noll and Madoka are concerned about Gene," Lin explained slowly, willing his co-conspirator to understand that there was a problem.

Alarms bells went off in Mai's head, and she realized that Lin was trying to tell her something without being obvious about it. "Why?" Mai asked cautiously.

Lin breathed an internal sigh of relief at the comprehension in Mai's eyes. "They are worried that the _strange attitude problem_ he exhibited with Noll this evening is a sign that he has stayed too long in limbo."

_Objection, leading the witness!_ Madoka noted in her mind. Why did it sound like Lin was telling Mai what to say?

Mai paused only a moment before picking up the line. "No, he's okay," she replied simply – but one look at Lin told Mai she needed to do better. "I mean... Gene and I had an argument tonight," she said truthfully. "So he was probably just still annoyed with me."

Naru raised a surprised eyebrow. "An argument?" That was unexpected. Mai and Gene seemed to have such a _pleasant_ relationship.

"Yes," Mai grumbled.

"About what?" The question was out of Naru's mouth before he could stop it.

_About me being a big-mouth_. Mai sighed; Gene was within his rights to be angry that she'd told someone... but honestly, what choice did they have? They both agreed that Mai needed experienced help if she wanted to be an able partner for Naru, and Lin was definitely their best option. And despite Gene's angry insistence that the _onmyouji_ would tell on them, Lin was currently in the process of trying to keep the transfer under wraps.

However, Mai couldn't tell _Naru_ any of that. So she summoned her best 'outraged' face. "None of your business, Narcissist."

"Oh, really?" Naru asked coolly, his expression suddenly shuttered. "_Your_ argument with Gene spilled over into _my_ conversation with him –"

"That doesn't mean I have to tell you!" Mai defended hotly.

Lin cleared his throat. _It means you have to come up with SOMETHING_, he told Mai with his eyes.

Mai rolled her eyes. _Fine, Lin_. "We had an argument about the case," she said dismissively.

Even Madoka scoffed. "Pull the other one, Mai-chan."

"What?" Mai shot back. "I can't get into a fight with my spirit guide?"

The master ghost hunter frowned. "Oh, I'm sure you can – I just doubt it was about the case." No, it was about something else – something else that Mai, Gene, and apparently _Koujo_ wanted to conceal.

"We've had arguments about cases before!" Mai persisted. TTMPI's first case after the transfer came to mind...

"But not this time," Naru argued. "You'd be less defensive." Mai's face blanked for a moment, and Naru knew he was right. His brain instantly started running the possibilities - had they fought over Gene's refusal to move on? About his unfinished business? Or perhaps... the futility of a romantic relationship? A swell of what felt disturbingly like glee ripped its way through Naru's chest at this last thought, and he closed his eyes in consternation. _It couldn't be that_. "So what was the fight _really_ about?" Naru asked demandingly, trying to mask the discord in his soul by going on the offensive.

Facing off against Naru _or_ Madoka was old hat by now, but their combined interrogative efforts made Mai want to run back to the room and lock the door. But that wouldn't solve anything - and would probably end in Mai being attacked by the ghosts again. Twice in one day was enough, thank you very much.

_Then what to do?_ The questions were only getting pointier... _ah_. A while back, Mai had asked Bou-san why he always let Ayako's baiting rile him up. His reply was that 'the only way to fight fire was fire.' Mai interpreted this approach as, 'when you're hit, hit back.' And come to think of it, directly confronting Naru _had_ produced results in the past. "Why do you want to know?" Mai challenged angrily. "It was just a fight, Naru. Why are you harping on about it?"

"I'm sorry?" Naru asked unthinkingly, totally unprepared for this question._ He_ wasn't even sure why he was harping on about it.

"You don't have to apologize for your brother," Mai quipped derisively.

In the last minute or so, three things had become apparent to Madoka Mori. One - at this point, Noll and Mai had completely forgotten anyone else was in the room. Two - they'd obviously pushed too hard, and now Mai wasn't going to tell them anything. And three - Gene's spirit was clearly fine. Mai would never screw around like this if there were really an issue.

So Madoka decided it would be best to step back, and let the sparks fly. Between Noll's emotional unrest and Mai's temper, this fight might actually go somewhere!

The ever-observant Lin noticed his girlfriend's sudden tactical reversal - and wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disturbed. He was _definitely_ disturbed by that angry, knowing look she'd thrown his way...

The normally-observant Naru didn't take notice of any of this peripheral drama. His whole attention was focused on Mai... who was obviously_ trying_ to piss him off. Mai's chin was up, her eyes were mocking... and the way she was sitting made her look far too much like Masako Hara for his liking.

Then she smirked. "I must have gotten cuter in the last two years," Mai drawled. "Enough to earn a wordless stare from Naru the Narcissist."

"I'll go and get you a kimono sleeve to hide behind," Naru snapped.

Mai tried not to feel hurt that Naru considered Masako to be his measure of beauty. "Don't do me any favors," she retorted.

_Much better_, Naru thought with relief. Mai was acting like herself again. Then he froze. Mai was still being uncooperative and angry - why would that _please_ him? The answer his mind provided was_ not_ what Naru wanted to hear, but even as he pushed it away he couldn't completely reject it.

Embodying calm he didn't feel, Naru settled onto a nearby chair with the deadly grace of a jungle cat. The stare he lasered into Mai was even deadlier. "Misdirection isn't your strong suit," he intoned.

_And yet you still don't know about the transfer_, Mai thought rather gleefully.

Naru's consternation only increased at the sudden mischievous glint in Mai's eyes. He obviously wasn't doing a good job simulating normalcy. "_What was the fight about?_" he repeated.

"Stuff," Mai replied stonily.

Naru resisted the urge to close his eyes in annoyance – he'd lose whatever advantage he had left. "Mai –"

"Ugh, it wasn't about the case!" Mai cried exasperatedly, flinging herself backwards into the couch pillows. This had to end before she slipped and said something stupid.

Naru smirked victoriously. "You've decided to admit the obvious?"

Mai rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I _meant_ that it'snot related to SPR, so I don't _have_ to tell you. And I don't want to." She matched Naru glare for glare. "Surely you can understand that, Mr. Didn't-Even-Tell-Us-His-Real-Name-For-A-Year."

A muscle in Naru's cheek twitched, but he didn't back down. "I'm not asking because I care about whatever stupid things the two of you bicker over," he hissed coldly. _Lies_, his mind denied.

_Lies_, Madoka mouthed to Lin.

"Then why _are_ you asking?" Mai asked angrily.

_Yeah, Noll - why?_ Madoka jeered silently. _Do you even realize you're jealous?_

Naru's breath caught. _Of course_ Mai had asked the very question he'd been avoiding in his own head.

Mai drew herself up, expecting Naru to come back at her with all ice-guns blazing...

Therefore, she was intensely surprised when Naru suddenly sank back into his chair with a strangely lost look on his face.

Holy_ s**t._ Even Madoka's inner voice sounded astonished. _He DOES realize it, doesn't he?_ The master ghost hunter threw Lin a goggle-eyed 'Is this really happening?' look (having decided to ignore her suspicions in favor of sharing this amazing moment with him). _It must really be happening_, Madoka decided, because Lin couldn't even summon the wherewithal to toss her a disapproving glare. Madoka crammed her fingers against her mouth. She noticed that despite Noll's introspective break, his eyes were still unconsciously on Mai. Luella was right; Noll really was adorable sometimes. Madoka made a mental note to describe this whole thing to Luella in detail, after the case.

As oblivious to their audience as was Naru, Mai sat frozen and uncomprehending on the base couch. She watched as Naru's stare grew more and more unfocused, until his eyes finally skated away from hers. Her brain seemed to turn back on, and Mai suddenly realized she hadn't been breathing. Naru's gaze dropped to the floor molding, and Mai felt simultaneously relieved and bereft – although his laser stare sometimes made Mai feel like a butterfly pinned to a board, a thrill jolted through her whenever Naru's deep blue eyes locked with hers.

Even now, Mai couldn't look away from him... she watched as Naru's face went from confused to contemplative.

Naru had pulled his eyes away from Mai, but it was too late. For whatever reason, Mai's question seemed to break Naru's ability to ignore his own thoughts. Perhaps it was because he didn't like not having an answer for something. Perhaps it was the frustrated tone of Mai's voice; unconsciously echoing Naru's frustration with himself. Perhaps it was because he was distracted by Mai's inexplicable ability to find the most resonant things to say. She'd always been like that, from the first time she called him 'Naru' to their conversation on his birthday.

And so Mai's question got through Naru's mental wall. Predictably, the answer had been immediate.

_Because you're jealous_, his mind had answered simply. _And refusing to recognize it doesn't make it go away._

Unapologetic and to the point, the way Naru usually fought his battles. It was so much harder to fight when there was no fight to be had, he'd always figured. Naru found it to be a highly effective strategy - and apparently, it even worked on himself.

_Because you're jealous_. It ran through Oliver Davis' mind over and over. He didn't bother refuting it - deep inside, he'd already known. The evidence was overwhelming, and the resultant conclusion was obvious.

It was so much harder to fight when there was no fight to be had.

As Naru's shifting expression and aura settled, Mai leaned forward to speak. "Naru?" she asked softly, her anger disappearing like it had never been. "Are you... okay?"

Mai's voice snapped Naru out of his daze. Oddly fitting, since she'd snapped him into it. "I'm fine," he lied through gritted teeth, staring staunchly at the base's ugly molding.

Abruptly, Mai remembered that Naru had all but admitted to having some 'petty emotional drama' going on. "You don't sound okay," she protested concernedly.

Naru closed his eyes tightly – he couldn't look at Mai right now. He could already imagine the warm, caring look she'd be wearing, and he simply could not deal with that without...Naru stopped that thought in its tracks, seeing no reason to make his situation worse.

Yes, he was jealous. There was no way around it. And Naru, despite never having experienced this particular component of the human condition, was not unaware of the implications.

_But_, Naru told himself firmly, ignoring the sense of despair in his gut, _what did it matter?_

-0O0-

AN: I know, I know - I said it wouldn't take as long, and it took_ so long_. Longer, in fact, than it has ever been - and I hated every minute of it. The main problem is that I very much underestimated my new schedule's effect on my free time. I work on Fridays now, and I used to do most of my editing on Fridays. Plus, it turns out my job is really hard, and I've been working overtime every week just to get everything done. At the end of most days, I just come home and take a nap. I feel really awful about not posting the new chapter sooner - I wanted to post it as much as you guys wanted me to post it_._ I feel so happy now that's ready.

Speaking of which, there was also the problem that the original last half of the chapter did not flow well, or get anything done. I've seriously been staring at it for two weeks, without knowing what to do about it. And then (after getting a lot of sleep and feeling caught up at work) I figured out the problem.

And since you guys are lovely, and I want to make it up to you, this chapter is super-long._ And_ I'll give you a hint about the next chapter - Naru _might_ have more physical contact with Mai than he's used to;)


	35. Chapter 35

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. If I did, the novels would have come out in English long ago.**

*******ATTENTION, PLEASE READ! APPARENTLY, THERE WAS A GLITCH ON THE SITE BACK IN MAY, AND NOTIFICATIONS FOR MY LAST UPDATE NEVER WENT OUT. SO PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU'VE READ THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER BEFORE YOU READ THIS ONE!;)**

-0O0-

**Chapter 35 – Misunderstanding and Misdirection**

-0O0-

The room itself was silent, though the thoughts of everyone in it were practically screaming.

Mai stared at Naru, wondering desperately what he was thinking.

Naru stared at the molding, trying not to think what he was thinking.

Madoka stared between Mai and Naru, waiting for one of them to crack.

Lin stared fixedly at the computer screen, wanting very much to grab Madoka and vacate the area immediately.

This situation was definitely not meant for an audience... ugh, and _of course_ Madoka looked positively riveted. Lin couldn't really blame her, though – Noll hadn't shown this much shock since they'd stumbled across the lake containing Gene's body.

Eventually, the silence grew so oppressive that Naru resurfaced from his internal struggle to deal with it. Concerned that his feigned equanimity would falter upon meeting Mai's eyes, Naru focused his laser-stare on Madoka.

Who promptly _winked_ at him. Twice.

Naru's hackles rose immediately – Madoka _knew_, didn't she? Naru should have realized that any effort to conceal his intracranial battle would be wasted against Madoka's borderline-supernatural powers of observation. If Gene hadn't already been able to psychically pick emotions out of his twin's head, Naru reckoned that Madoka could have taught him how.

Then something clicked in Naru's head – _Gene_. Gene's spirit! _That's_ what this mess was supposed to be about. At last, Naru had found a flat surface on which to stand.

Madoka's only warning was the sudden visible smugness in Naru's expression.

"Weren't you just as worried about Gene as I was, Madoka?" he asked condescendingly. "I'm not sure what you hope to accomplish by sitting there and winking like a fool."

"_What?_" Madoka asked in disbelief. Was he _seriously_ going to turn this back around?

Her former student ignored the exclamation. "In case you've _forgotten_, Mai," Naru said to the space next to Mai's chair, "The state of Gene's spirit is a definite cause for concern." Confident that his incendiary words would push Mai back into Angry Mode, Naru finally chanced a look...

...and was totally brought up short by the stricken expression on Mai's face. _What the –?_

"Right... Gene's spirit," Mai almost whispered.

Dr. Oliver Davis felt an unusual impulse to smack himself upside the head. In his wild attempt to distract himself and Madoka from his troubling self-realization, Naru had completely lost sight of Mai's feelings for Gene. An uncomfortable swirl of guilt and pain swept the ghost hunter.

"I'm sorry, Naru," Mai warbled, her body seeming to collapse in on itself. "I wasn't really listening."

Wait, why did she sound more worried and depressed about _him_ than Gene? Feeling wrong-footed for the_ nth_ time in an hour, Naru tried to sift through Mai's response.

His thoughts were torpedoed by Mai's leaning in and smiling through obvious sadness. "Gene's fine, Naru – I promise." Her voice throbbed with sincerity.

Naru opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

"I'm sorry I got carried away. I know you're all worried about Gene." Mai looked down at her hands, and Naru felt an_ incredibly_ unwelcome urge to go over and comfort her. Thank goodness Madoka and Lin were in the room, or he might actually have done it.

_It can't be that_,Naru told himself. _There has to be another reason for my jealousy_. _It CAN'T be that_.

"We just had a stupid argument," Mai insisted. "I'm sure Gene will get over it." She smiled softly, rolling her eyes. Naru felt like he'd been punched in the stomach.

_It can't be that_. _That would be foolish..._ and _pointless_.

The denial sounded weaker than it ever had, and Naru's just-punched stomach twisted.

"Anyway," Mai said, her gloved fingers locking tightly together atop her knees, "I _promise_ I will tell you if anything about Gene's spirit feels... wrong."

Naru just stared.

"I'm worried about him, too, remember?" Mai reminded him gently.

Feeling oddly like he wanted to scream, Naru swallowed the hot flash of _something_ in his throat. "Yes, I remember." The memory of Mai smiling as she described the wonderfulness of 'dream Naru' crawled slowly across his mind.

Meanwhile, Lin had to physically restrain Madoka from leaping up and getting in the middle of this admittedly _huge_ miscommunication.

"But –" Madoka started.

"Just _don't_," Lin insisted. Madoka wanted Noll to figure out his feelings – and the more pronounced Noll's jealousy became, the more obvious its cause would be.

Their hushed voices snapped Mai out of her staring contest with Naru. She had completely forgotten that anyone else was there! "And I promise I'll tell you, too, Madoka," she added hastily. "I really didn't mean to upset you guys... I would _never_ let Gene go to the bad."

Madoka struggled between murmuring words of thanks and knocking their damn heads together.

"It's fine, Mai-san," Lin said firmly (while pulling Madoka's rolling chair back towards himself). "We shouldn't have been so quick to _accuse_ you."

To his satisfaction, both Noll and Madoka looked slightly awkward at this pronouncement. _At least something useful came out of this incredibly uncomfortable conversation_, Lin thought. Neither Noll nor Madoka would be jumping down Mai's throat about Gene anytime soon.

"All of you should go to bed," the _onmyouji_ continued authoritatively, knowing none of the 'bosses' in the room were in any shape to argue. "If any of you would like to be useful tomorrow, you'll need some sleep."

Naru rose robotically from his chair, and swept from the room without another word.

Madoka shook her head in amazement, then took Mai's hand and pulled her out the door.

Lin picked up Naru's abandoned research, and settled in to watch the monitors. _Somebody_ had to focus on the case...

_-0O0-_

"Right, so did something happen?" an excited voice asked.

Mai squinted into the ether until she detected Gene race-walking towards her. "I thought you weren't speaking to me," she sniffed.

"Well, that was _before_ I found out that Noll –" Gene stopped himself just in time. Noll was still in the process of figuring things out; there was no way he'd confessed yet. "That Noll was having some... personal issues," the spirit guide finished cagily. Personal enough to interest Mai, yet vague enough to encompass several options.

And Mai's eyes lit up immediately. "Wait, you know what's wrong with Naru?" she asked eagerly. "Oh, thank goodness! He's been so _weird_ for the last couple of days, and I have no idea what to do! I keep telling him that I want to help –"

Gene could just imagine how _that_ offer had gone over.

"But he just won't let me in!" Mai continued desperately. "And Madoka already knows what's going on," she informed her spirit guide.

_Of course she does_. Gene grinned.

"So I was thinking that maybe I could get it out of her somehow," Mai explained. Not only did Madoka love to gossip, but she had asked Mai to help Naru the last time he'd needed someone to talk to.

"Maybe," Gene said doubtfully. Madoka _would_ be dying to tell Mai exactly what was 'wrong' with Noll... but she wouldn't. In the end, it wasn't her place. Instead, Madoka would hand out as many cryptic clues as possible - just like Gene intended to do.

"But that doesn't matter anymore," Mai said with relish. "_You_ can tell me what's going on!" When Gene remained strangely silent, Mai tried again. "You _will_ tell me, right?"

Her pleading, shining eyes were almost too much to resist; Gene wondered how Noll had managed it. "Well... no," he replied.

Mai's mouth dropped open. "What?!" she cried incredulously. "Why not?"

"Because _my_ confessing _Noll's_ affection will only make his paranoia about my relationship with you even worse," Gene muttered dryly.

Mai couldn't make out the words, but she recognized Gene's exasperated expression. "Is it because you're still mad at me?" she asked heavily.

Gene raised an eyebrow. "No," he said succinctly. He _was_ still mad at her, but that had nothing to do with it.

"Cause that's not fair to Naru," Mai warned.

"Not fair to _Naru?_" Gene laughed in disbelief. "You mean not fair to _you_. _You're_ the one who wants to know." But now that she mentioned it... "Though given your _rampant_ _promise-breaking_, it would be _completely_ fair of me to keep things from you."

Mai rolled her eyes. "As revenge for my _not_ keeping things from Lin-san?" she guessed.

"Exactly." Gene glared.

Mai glared back – and suddenly realized something important. "Wait a minute!" she accused. "You saw Naru tonight!"

"And?"

"He doesn't know _anything_ about the transfer, does he?" Mai asked pointedly.

Gene pursed his lips.

"_Does he?_" Mai repeated.

"No," Gene admitted. When Mai smiled victoriously, he hastened to add, "Not _yet_, anyway."

"Oh, come off it!" Mai cried. "Lin-san has known for _weeks_ now, and he hasn't even told Madoka!"

"That you know of," Gene retorted. "But you're right - Lin hasn't told Noll, and he won't..."

Mai fist-pumped.

"Until it suits him," the spirit guide finished smarmily.

Mai wished Gene's foot was closer so she could stomp on it. "Nooooo, he won't tell because he _promised!_"

"Lin will always hold what he thinks is better for Noll above a promise," Gene argued.

Mai considered his words – given Lin's status as Naru's former bodyguard, Gene was probably right. "Okay, fine," she relented. "But even so, how is that a problem?" Gene opened his mouth to respond, but Mai held up a hand. "If it's better for Naru to know, then so be it. That was our plan, anyway," she pointed out.

Gene sighed. "That's true," he admitted finally. Mai grinned, and Gene rushed to qualify his statement. "But you have to understand, Mai-chan. We're in a very delicate situation, what with Noll being such a stubborn berk." _About a few things_. "This has to be handled carefully, and I won't be able to help immediately..."

"All the more reason to involve someone who has lots of experience dealing with Naru," Mai contested.

"Yes, but Lin _will_ eventually tell Madoka." Gene stated with certainty. "And then Madoka will tell Father, and then..."

"Everyone will find out," Mai allowed. "But that was _always_ going to happen," she reminded Gene. "And as of now, Lin recognizes the necessity of keeping the transfer a secret until I'm trained up." Mai paused to glare at her spirit guide. "So shut up about it, already. I can't make Lin forget what I told him, so this whole argument is pointless."

Gene smiled ruefully. "You sound like Noll."

"Maybe our personalities are syncing along with our powers," Mai suggested sarcastically.

"Noll would say it's because you're unconsciously mimicking the behaviors of the person whose attention you crave most," Gene noted slyly.

"Then in his mind, I should act more like you," Mai retorted.

Gene sighed again. "Don't worry, Mai-chan. He'll figure out how you really feel soon enough."

Instead of smiling sadly at his words of comfort (like Gene expected), Mai looked up with terrified eyes. "Don't say that!" she cried. "Naru would be so uncomfortable around me that we wouldn't even be _friends_ anymore!"

With a sinking heart, Gene remembered that Noll's misunderstanding was actually only Central Problem 1 of 2. Even once Noll did realize the truth, there would still be Mai's staunch belief that Noll couldn't possibly love her back. Gene groaned internally.

_Hmm... maybe I could send Mai back with a coded message to Madoka_. Something like, 'just lock them up until they get the idea.' Gene could tell Mai that he was talking about trapping the ghosts up together... no, given their current topic of discussion, Mai might see through that...

"And then how could I be his partner?" Mai continued, practically hyperventilating.

Gene was almost positive that Noll would _love_ that Mai was his new partner... once he got over the initial shocked-betrayed-angry freak-out. "It'll be fine," Gene assured. "Trust me."

But Mai didn't want to talk about her Naru-problems anymore, and endeavored to shift the conversation back to their original argument. "Then trust_ me_ when I say that that telling Lin-san was a good idea," she shot back.

"Agree to disagree," Gene offered, realizing it was time to leave off both arguments. When Mai balked, he continued, "That's the best you'll get out of me." _And yes, I'll leave the Noll issue alone for the time being_. "Besides, I need to tell you something about the ghosts."

"You already did – one murdered the other." Mai grimaced. "Besides, I got to experience it for myself earlier this evening."

"No, not really," Gene shook his head. "That's what I'm trying to tell you. You didn't stay for the end."

"Well, Madoka woke me up," Mai explained. "But it was pretty obvious what was about to happen."

"Madoka woke you?" Gene repeated grimly. "Then she needs to be careful. Linda – the female ghost – isn't happy right now." Suddenly, the dream world warped a little – everything turned a shade darker, and a slow chill crept over his skin. Gene sucked in a breath. He shouldn't have used Linda's name...

"You say that like ghosts are happy in general," Mai joked. Then she noticed the changing atmosphere of their meeting place. "What's happening?" she asked nervously.

"The ghosts aren't thrilled with all of this interference," Gene surmised. "You should get back, Mai-chan. Tell everybody that it will be worse today."

"_Worse?_" Mai gasped. "There were _three_ attacks yesterday!"

"Just tell them," Gene insisted. "Lin's _shiki_ is guarding your room, so get as much real sleep as you can – because it _is_ going to get worse." Without further ado, Gene reached out and pushed against Mai's forehead. "Tell them to watch out," he reiterated.

Mai was suddenly so exhausted that she hardly even woke upon falling back into her body. As her head sank back onto the pillow, Mai wondered hazily whether Gene was just strengthening the connection between Mai and her weary body, or if he could somehow actually make her sleepy. Maybe she should ask Naru in the morning...

-0O0-

Madoka Mori stared fixedly at the back of Mai Taniyama's head, silently mulling over interrogation methodologies.

Mai had pretty much identified the major players and motivations of the house's ghost population, so all that was really left was deciding on an exorcism technique. It was also apparent that Noll and Mai were not going to wind up making out in a closet on this case, so Madoka had decided to follow Lin's advice and leave it alone. For now.

Consequently, Madoka elected to focus her energies on the next item on her list – rumbling the Big Secret Thing happening under her nose.

"Mai-chan, is Koujo's _shiki_ still in here?" Madoka asked casually. She wanted to question Mai and Koujo separately, so the last thing Madoka needed was her sneaky boyfriend's _shiki_ to tattle on her.

"No," Mai replied, brushing out her wet hair. She was glad that the _shiki_ had left when they'd woken up - showering while being watched was not pleasant.

"Excellent," Madoka muttered to herself. "Now, how to begin?" Years of training encouraged Madoka to line up the facts – and everything she'd observed thus far suggested that Mai, Gene, and Lin were working together to hide something from herself and Noll.

Which was strange all on its own, really – if anything, the teams should be Mai, Gene, and Madoka vs. Noll and Lin. Or even Noll, Lin, and Madoka vs. Mai and Gene. In all her years with SPR, Madoka couldn't remember Lin ever siding against both her _and_ Noll simultaneously. Not even once.

And honestly... what could have compelled Mai go to _Koujo_ for help? Though Koujo's unspoken affection for Mai might render him willing to assist, Madoka would definitely expect Mai to ask someone else first (herself included).

So what was going on?

The state of things in their little circle was even weirder than usual – Noll was in the midst of an emotional epiphany, Koujo was keeping secrets from her, Mai was up to something sneaky, and the always-informed Yasu wasn't sure what was going on. (Madoka had texted him immediately upon waking.)

Madoka briefly considered calling Ayako for information... but then the bride-to-be would openly grill Mai, and Madoka would be rumbled. No, she'd stick to questioning Mai and Koujo.

Thinking Koujo's name pissed Madoka off all over again – seriously, _why _was he even involved? The last time she checked, Lin had been driving the 'stay out of it' bandwagon...

Movement on Madoka's periphery drew her attention back to the next bed, and she watched Mai re-tie the bow on her left glove.

"I can usually judge how active a haunting is by how many times a day I have to tie these," the teen psychic announced.

Despite her mood, Madoka couldn't help chuckling. "And the verdict?"

"This is the most action I've seen in about a year."

The lead investigator nodded thoughtfully. "We did have three major incidents yesterday." Madoka studied Mai's arm-coverings. "You have a pull, there – by the elbow."

Gasping, Mai slapped a hand over the offending joint. Then she wiggled her fingers, feeling around for the weak spot.

"Other glove, Mai-chan," Madoka drawled. "And you _seriously_ need to calm down about the scars. Do you really think my seeing them would matter?"

A flash of nervousness sped across Mai's face. "It would matter to..." _Gene_. "Me," she finished aloud.

An alarm sounded in Madoka's head - something was off in Mai's tone.

"Do you think Naru's feeling okay?" Mai asked abruptly, the thought of Gene reminding her to ask this very important question. Gene had refused to tell her what was going on with Naru, so Madoka was her last hope.

"Huh?" Madoka had been too busy thinking to pay attention. "What about Noll?"

Mai blushed at Madoka's sudden and direct stare. "Do you think Naru's... feeling okay?" she repeated shyly.

"I think he'd feel more okay if you were open about your dealings with Gene," Madoka said bluntly, figuring that Mai was referencing last night's (surface) issue.

Mai's eyes widened. "I – I wasn't talking about that," she stammered. "I meant about his – well, you said he was having, um..."

"Spit it out, Mai-chan!"

"Emotional problems!" Mai finally yelled.

Madoka had to grin. "So I did." Yes, Noll _was_ having emotional problems – long-overdue, inappropriately hilarious emotional problems.

The lead investigator's sly smile only worsened Mai's embarrassment. "I, um, I'm worried about him," she managed to explain. "But Naru won't tell me why he's upset."

At this, Madoka had to bite down forcefully on her tongue. No matter how badly she wanted to move the action, Madoka grudgingly agreed with Koujo – no one else could confess for Noll. "Well," she hedged, "That might be because Noll himself doesn't really know."

Mai frowned. "Yeah, he said something like that..."

Madoka's eyebrows flew up in surprise. "_Noll_ did?" _How unexpectedly forward of him_. "And you said he doesn't open up to you."

The teen psychic only blushed harder. "Well, I kind of forced it out of him," she admitted.

"Whatever it takes," Madoka encouraged brazenly. "Keep at it, Mai-chan."

Mai bit her lip, obviously lost as to what 'keeping at it' entailed – but Madoka was more than ready with a suggestion. "You could probably get the ball rolling by telling him about that fight with Gene." _And while you're at it, tell ME, too_.

Now it was Mai's turn to be surprised. "What? No way!" she refused. "That would start more of a fight than it would end," she added unthinkingly.

And Madoka jumped on it. "Really? Why would that be?" she asked casually, hoping to take advantage of Mai's distraction.

But Mai was so conditioned not to talk directly about the transfer that lack of focus wasn't a problem. "Because," she replied hazily.

"Ugh, because_ why?_" Madoka officially lost her patience. "_What_ aren't you telling us, Mai-chan?"

Instead of responding, Mai spun in place on the bed.

"Don't ignore me," Madoka warned – but Mai waved a frantic hand.

"One of the spirits is here," she whispered urgently. Now that she thought about it, Gene _had_ said it would be even more active today...

Madoka stood, instantly on guard. "Which spirit?"

Mai's eyes swept the room. She _hated_ not being able to see the ghost... "I think it's the woman," Mai finally pronounced. "Linda."

Madoka relaxed infinitesimally. "At least it's not the killer," she mumbled.

But Mai sucked in a frightened breath. The minute Madoka said 'killer,' the feeling in the air changed. "What the –?"

A loud popping noise informed the girls that the lamp between their beds had shorted out. Bravely, Madoka bent down to check out whether the bulb had burst...

...and the lamp whipped upwards, connecting hard with Madoka's skull.

Mai watched, horrified, as the lead investigator's eyes rolled into the back of her head before she fell face-first onto the bed. "Naru!" Mai screamed. Red, wet blood spread across the pillowcase. "NARU!"

As the sound of running feet pounded down the hall, Mai raised her arms into a defensive posture and faced the now-visible Linda. "Why are _you_ suddenly attacking?" Mai accused, completely forgetting Gene's warning _and_ Masako's lessons about speaking calmly to spirits. "You were fine before... well, better than that other guy!"

The ghost's eyes flashed.

_I need help! _Linda's angry voice sounded in Mai's head.

"Whacking people with furniture isn't exactly going to inspire their generosity!" Mai observed, trying not to look at Madoka's very still body.

_I need YOUR help_, was the only reply.

"You should have just said that!" Mai replied, moving swiftly around the bed and stepping between the spirit and Madoka. "You don't have to attack my friends to get my attention."

Linda shifted a bit, highlighting the huge translucent stain on her chest. A warning rang out in the back of Mai's mind – something about that wasn't right... but a familiar whistle broke her concentration.

Lin's _shiki _lit up the room, but the ghost vanished before the glowing ball of light got anywhere near her. By the time Lin, Naru and Gregory raced into the bedroom, all that remained was that metallic dragging sound... and Madoka out cold on the bed.

"Guys, Madoka needs medical attention!" Mai yelled. "Like right now!"

Less than a second later, Lin was on his knees beside his girlfriend. Naru sat down on the opposite side of the bed, studying Madoka's wound.

"Mai?" he asked quietly. "Can you sense that she's conscious at all?"

"_No_," Mai breathed, her voice rising in panic.

Naru nodded grimly, reaching out with a cautious hand. Very, very carefully, Naru touched Madoka's less-bloody temple – and used _qigong_ to pass a small wave of PK from himself to his unconscious mentor.

Locked onto it as she was, Mai felt a disturbance ripple through Madoka's aura. "That did something, Naru," she reported, walking around the bed and leaning over him. "Do it again."

Mai was so close that Naru could smell her freshly-washed hair... and how could he be thinking about that while Madoka was_ bleeding_ inches away? "Back up," Naru hissed, trying to ignore the warmth of Mai's bare leg against his knee.

His next poke to Madoka's head was consequently harder – but apparently, that was a good thing. Madoka groaned softly, leaning into Lin as his hand moved to cradle her head.

Naru heard Mai suck in a breath. "She's coming around!" the teen psychic squealed into his ear.

Had she gotten _closer?_ Naru swiveled around to censure Mai – and missed colliding with her face by an inch.

_Much closer_, he thought numbly.

Naru's gaze fell inexorably to Mai's shocked-open mouth. Mai had shot backwards when she felt him move... if she hadn't, Naru would have wound up kissing her.

The surge of emotion that this realization engendered was almost unmanageable. Naru was absolutely sure that the tumult in his head was visible on his face – and Mai was staring straight at him. She looked just as stunned as Naru knew he did – at least he wasn't blushing, though.

Though how could he be sure when the heat from Mai's face felt like it was burning right into him?

Naru knew he should say something... but his brain was blank and his mouth refused to form words.

"Noll! Mai!" Lin's voice barked. "Get cold water and some gauze!"

More used to getting caught up in the moment, Mai actually snapped out of it first. "Right! So sorry, Lin-san!" Mai turned around and raced for the base, berating herself for standing there like a love-struck idiot while Lin tried to revive Madoka.

Naru moved unthinkingly over to the window, pulling out his phone with hands of stone. He punched in the number for the nearest hospital (Naru always made sure to have such information handy on cases), and informed the receptionist of Madoka's condition.

"The ambulance is coming," he reported tonelessly upon hanging up. "They said to avoid moving her head very much, though it's a good sign she's awake."

"You used PK to wake her up, right Dr. Davis?" Gregory asked, his voice a mix of nervousness and amazement.

Naru had forgotten he was even there.

Lin's head snapped up. "You did _what_, Noll?"

"I'll be fine," Naru said dismissively. "It was hardly anything." He could _not_ say that about whatever had just happened with Mai.

"_Noll,_" Lin started.

Unfortunately, Mai chose that moment to come back with the bandages – and ended up receiving the long, hard stare that Lin would have leveled at Naru.

"Sorry it took so long," Mai apologized, misreading Lin's anger. She sat down on the bed, handing Lin a wet washcloth and a roll of gauze.

Lin shook his head very slightly. "Are you _sure_ you didn't use too much PK, Noll?" he asked pointedly, eyes on Mai.

Mai's own eyes widened – she hadn't even thought about the PK! Did Lin mean that she should go over and level out Naru's energy? But he looked okay... and he felt okay to her senses.

"_Yes_," Naru insisted, idly wondering how Lin could be so aloof and yet so nagging at the same time.

Though at least if his mind was idly wondering about something, it must be working properly again.

And indeed, Naru's mind _was_ working properly again – and all too ready to account for its temporary breakdown. Naru gritted his teeth, fighting very hard against the increasingly clear conclusion to his quandary.

Meanwhile, Lin looked to Mai for confirmation of Noll's PK status report. Finally understanding what he wanted from her, Mai scrutinized Naru carefully before nodding slightly.

Lin breathed a sigh of relief. At least there would only be one hospital patient today.

The barely-conscious Madoka groaned in pain as Lin pressed the gauze into her hair, mollified only by a soft wet something sweeping across her forehead. She vaguely thought she heard clinking in the distance - sort of like the noise a wire fence made when someone climbed it. "Are we outside?" Madoka asked confusedly.

Lin, Naru, Mai and Gregory exchanged a four-way look of concern.

"No," Lin answered slowly.

"I hear something... clinking..." Madoka told her boyfriend.

Lin was more concerned with the slurry quality of her words than their meaning. "The ambulance will be here soon," he reassured her.

"Clinking, not dragging?" Naru asked interestedly, realizing that Madoka must be hearing the noise that he and Mai noticed yesterday. But to him, it had sounded like dragging – and Mai had said the same.

"I used to climb a lot," Madoka replied unhelpfully. "Haunted places have big fences."

"You mean you investigated private property when you were a kid?" Mai asked shrewdly.

Lin and Naru looked up, surprised by Mai's deduction. She threw them a dirty look.

"Well, how else was I going to research?" Madoka mumbled. Then her face screwed up in pain. "The clinking is hurting my head."

Naru glanced at the most reliable medium in the room – but Mai shook her head. "I don't hear anything," she said softly. In all the chaos, she hadn't even noticed that the dragging sound had stopped.

"I do," Gregory said unexpectedly. "It _does_ sound more like clinking than dragging."

Mai and Naru exchanged another look. "Maybe it's the other ghost?" Mai suggested. "One drags, one clinks?"

Naru sighed in frustration. "I have nothing better at the moment," he admitted. Any further thoughts were lost as the screeching of an ambulance cut into his awareness.

"Oh nooo, the cops are here again," Madoka groaned. "Better sneak out the back."

Given the situation, Mai tried not to laugh. She had, in fact, _almost_ smothered the urge to giggle when _Lin_ cracked up.

Mai wasn't sure whether to be more amazed that Lin was laughing, or that he managed to hold his hand perfectly still against Madoka's injured head while laughing. She looked to Naru for an answer... and found him fighting a smile, as well.

"We will make sure to re-enact this moment for Madoka when she is fully conscious," Naru drawled amusedly.

Mai's mirth bubbled over, and Naru felt a swoop in his stomach as the wide smile he was used to girls aiming at Gene was directed at him. Feeling off-kilter _again_, Naru closed his eyes and waited for the world to go right.

"Gregory, go flag down the paramedics," he ordered. "I'll go set up the autopilot on the cameras, and Mai –" Naru's eyes snapped open. Did he _always_ say her name like that? His voice actually sounded _warmer_ when... "Please pack Madoka an overnight bag for the hospital," Naru finished stiltedly, almost racing for the door.

Mai gave Lin an astonished look. "Yeesh, is Naru _that_ twitchy about smiling in public?"

-0O0-

Hours later, Mai sat in base and sipped her tea. "How are you doing, Madoka?" she asked feelingly.

The older woman shrugged – and then winced. "Not great," she grumbled. "The drugs are wearing off." Madoka threw her boyfriend some sad-puppy eyes.

"You can have another pill in an hour," Lin stated uncompromisingly.

"Half an hour," Madoka haggled.

"No."

"Forty-five minutes?"

"Just give it to her now, Lin," Naru advised, not looking up from the case update he was typing for Martin. "Madoka obviously wants to take a second trip to the hospital; a drug overdose should do the trick."

"Naru!" yelled a scandalized Mai.

"Nooollll," Madoka moaned. "I do _not_ have the patience for this right now."

"Exactly what I think to myself every time you go off on a foolish tangent about nothing," Naru informed her.

"_Narcissist!_" Mai scolded. "Leave Madoka alone! She's got a concussion _and_ stitches!"

"So it would be okay if she only had the concussion?" Gregory asked curiously.

"No," Mai qualified tightly. "But I thought the _excessive_ number of injuries might spark some compassion!"

"_Two_ hardly counts as _excessive_," Naru noted evenly.

"So then what's your threshold for compassion, Noll?" Madoka asked leadingly, her drugged-up mind feeling less inclined to leave Noll alone about his Inner Drama. If he was giving her no quarter, then she'd do the same...

"Probably _ten_ injuries," Mai muttered.

"Five?" Gregory guessed. That sounded like more than enough to inspire anyone's compassion.

Madoka's eyes glittered wickedly. "Nah – it must be _three_."

Naru raised a querulous eyebrow. "Three is only one more than two," he stated.

"Ah, but evidence speaks for itself," Madoka flashed a smarmy grin. "Mai-chan sustained three injuries on the Reed case... and you were certainly _compassionate_ then, Noll."

Naru stopped typing mid-word.

"Carried her out to the car..." Madoka sang.

"So did Lin," Naru bit out.

"Threatened at the doctors in the ER to get her faster treatment..."

"We needed to get back to work."

"Offered to pay out of pocket when we couldn't find her insurance information..."

"How did you know–?" Naru cleared his throat. "Of course I offered to pay _on behalf of SPR_ – Mai is an employee."

"Right, that's why you pulled out your personal credit card instead of the company one." Madoka offered the gaping Mai a drug-addled wink.

"I didn't _have_ the company card," Naru replied through gritted teeth.

"I was standing about five feet away from you, waving it in the air," his former instructor noted meanly. "Gee, I wonder why -"

_CRACK!_

Madoka's drinking glass broke in half, and a small deluge of water sloshed onto the floor.

"Um... my bad?" Mai apologized. It had to have been her – Naru had _way_ too much self-control to poltergeist. It _was_ odd that she hadn't felt her powers spilling over like usual... but then again, Mai's focus had been on tamping down the raging-blushing-nervousness caused by Madoka's insinuations.

Meanwhile, Naru closed his eyes and forcibly slammed down the mental guards which hemmed in his PK. Even as energy swirled through him like a tempest, Naru couldn't quite believe that he had just poltergeisted like an over-emotional novice. His PK was much closer to the surface than usual, since he'd actually used it today... but _seriously_.

Luckily, Mai seemed to be taking credit for his disturbing lack of control. The glass was just about the same distance from Mai as from Naru, so it was feasible that the easily-rattled Mai had lost control of her powers and broken it. Mai's obvious embarrassment helped his case, as well – she appeared just as uncomfortable with Madoka's idiocy as Naru felt. Of course, her embarrassment was likely fueled by uneasiness – after all, Mai's romantic interest lay elsewhere.

This time, the sick feeling in Naru's gut was less of a surprise... though no less unwanted. _It can't be that. _

"You feeling okay, Noll?" Madoka probed mercilessly. "You look rather _ruffled_."

Naru threw her the most savage glare he could muster without losing grip on his still-spiking powers.

"There's something strange on the monitor," Lin interrupted loudly, turning so that his eyes could bore into Madoka's. Was she _trying_ to cause another scene?

_Foolish question_, the _onmyouji_ realized as Madoka put out her tongue. _Of_ _course_ she was.

"What is it, Lin?" Naru asked, _beyond_ ready to change the subject. He moved swiftly over to the computers, Gregory on his heels.

As he hadn't actually seen anything strange, Lin had to think fast. "I saw a flash in the hallway... but I think it was something in base throwing light on the screen."

Naru frowned – Lin rarely made such a mistake. "We won't know unless we rewind the tape," he reasoned, sitting down beside Lin.

Deciding to flee while Naru's back was turned, Mai leapt from her seat and grabbed the tea tray. "I'm going to make more tea," she whispered to Madoka, keeping her voice low so that no one else could hear. Naru and Lin would almost certainly order Gregory to go with her, and Mai really needed a moment alone.

Or rather, Mai's instincts told her that the ghost wanted her alone.

The minute Mai had re-focused on the case, she'd felt a strong, deep-rooted urge to find Linda. The dragging noise was back, too - and it was obvious that no one else heard it.

Madoka just waved a cheery good-bye as Mai snuck away.

-0O0-

Carefully and slowly, Mai re-positioned the kitchen camera so that it would only take in about half of the room.

Even as she did it, Mai could hear Naru's angry voice in her mind. He was going to be _sooo_ pissed about this. Madoka would be mad, too, once she was herself again...

But the thought of an injured Madoka only reinforced Mai's decision to flagrantly break SPR's rules. Mai knew Linda wanted to get her alone – her instincts said so, her spirit guide said so, and Linda herself had pretty much said so... after she attacked Madoka.

An attack that Mai blamed squarely on herself.

Gene had warned Mai in her dreams – but she had been too busy obsessing over Naru and her own embarrassment to really understand everything he'd said. If Mai had listened more closely to her spirit guide, Madoka might not be on a medicine high right now.

Mai had thought Gene was simply saying that the case would get more dangerous, and everybody needed to be careful. But after sitting in the hospital all morning with nothing to do but think, Mai realized that Gene mentioned Madoka specifically because she was Linda's new target – for the crime of waking Mai up before the ghost was done with her.

The very least Mai _should_ have done was mention to Madoka that the attacks might get worse. But instead, Mai focused her attention on the part of Gene's visit that most concerned her – Naru's 'petty emotional drama' – and got so caught up that she barely even noticed Linda manifest in their bedroom.

What kind of 'lead investigator' was she, exactly?

_The kind that won't let anyone else get hurt_, Mai answered herself fiercely.

When she was done futzing with the video camera, Mai turned to the thermometer. Even if Naru and Lin couldn't _see_ that there was a problem, a temperature drop would certainly draw their attention. Luckily, Gene had taught her how to fix that.

As a living medium, Gene had the same distaste for spirit-killing exorcisms that Mai and Masako shared. Whenever it seemed that SPR was leaning towards unnecessarily wiping out a soul, Gene would take evasive action. He'd had several tricks for getting alone time with a spirit – one of which was using a heat source to fool the thermometers.

Quickly and quietly (Mai couldn't help but feel like Naru could sense that she was up to no good), Mai placed a fresh cup of boiling water in the corner by the thermometer. Naru liked corners because there was less chance that the equipment would be damaged in an attack. Mai liked this corner because there would be fewer avenues for spirit-chilled air to hit the thermometer. Mai made sure to place the water close enough to balance the chill induced by the presence of a ghost, but far enough away that the temperature wouldn't immediately climb higher.

Satisfied with her (necessary) sabotage, Mai turned back to the tea. It wouldn't be long, she knew.

And it wasn't.

Mai had barely dropped another sugar cube into Madoka's tea when a telltale chill swept the kitchen. Mai's eyes flicked to the nearest window out of reflex, but she already knew it wasn't the wind.

Hands up and at the ready, Mai whipped around and locked eyes with the female ghost's pale form... and was surprised by the visible calm in her gaze. _That doesn't exactly gel with the events of this morning_, Mai mused. Did Linda have mood swings like Georgie Reed? Mai's stance softened slightly as she remembered the confused, misunderstood mental patient.

_No, Mai – stay sharp_, the transfer student reprimanded herself. _Linda might not have done anything awful to me, but Madoka has ten stitches and a grade 2 concussion. _Mai placed her foot on the doorjamb, ensuring an escape route should the ghost try to lock her in. Letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding, Mai reached out with her senses. Sadness, pain, frustration, and hopelessness... Mai felt like the whole room was drowning in sorrow.

And the whole time, Linda just waited motionlessly. Waited and watched.

"You said you need my help," Mai reminded her quietly. "And here I am."

Linda only tilted her head.

Mai's instincts pinged again. "You... want to tell me something, right?" Even as Mai spoke, she questioned her intuition's accuracy. Hadn't she already seen everything during the dream? Madoka may have woken Mai up before the actual death occurred, but...

And then Gene's voice echoed in her mind... _'You didn't stay for the end.'_

The air shimmered as Linda drifted slightly away, and Mai caught a glimpse of her chest. That huge silvery stain spread across her dress, stemming from a long, thin hole in the midst of the ripped-open dress. It was directly below the dress's low neckline, and looked sort of like a ragged keyhole...

Then the spirit shifted again, and the sun shone through Linda's figure from behind. The dress seemed to gain a bluish tinge, and the silver staining turned red as blood.

_Because it IS blood, duh_. Mai resisted the urge to roll her eyes at herself – she'd known it was blood when she'd first seen Linda in the solarium.

Wait... _why_ was there blood?

"You... you were choked," Mai whispered confusedly. "I was there! I was you, and the guy who killed you... Charles... he choked you."

The ghost stared intently at Mai.

And Mai stared intently at the hole in the dress. That's where the blood must have come from, she guessed. And the shape, the placement... would make it a stab wound.

Mai looked back up at Linda's expressionless face. "Why would he stab you if you were already dead?"

It didn't seem like Linda was going to answer... but suddenly, she swept out an arm. Almost immediately, the scraping sound started up again. But this time, it sounded a little different. It was more like _rattling_ – the noise reminded Mai of the metal bells that performers shook during festivals in Japan.

More like the 'clinking' noise Madoka and Gregory had heard this morning.

And suddenly Mai noticed the chains around Linda's wrists and ankles. She'd thought it was rope before... "Metal on stone," Mai realized, following the length of the chains with her eyes. The wrist chains were almost pulled taut, like they were attached to something... but Mai couldn't see where they ended. The ankle chains had weights on the end which rested on the floor. "That's what making the dragging noise," Mai said to herself.

But Linda shook her head slowly.

"No?" Mai asked confusedly. "But what else could it be?" Linda lip curled into a sardonic smile, and Mai swallowed hard. Forcing her best Masako-voice, Mai entreated the ghost. "Do these chains hold you in this house?" she asked slowly. Linda gave Mai a significant look... and dropped her gaze to her chained feet.

Mai nodded in understanding. "Okay, the ankle chains hold you to the house. But what about the wrist chains? What are they attached to?" Linda's face twisted, and suddenly Mai knew the answer. "They hold you to the other ghost... to Charles." The room went colder, and Mai was suddenly glad she'd used Gene's temperature trick. She couldn't risk the others being hurt. "Is he holding you here?" Mai asked, trying to draw Linda's attention back to their conversation. "Why would he choke you _and_ stab you? I don't understand!"

The ghost regarded Mai for another moment, and then cocked her head.

_Are you sure you want to understand? _Linda asked, her voice bouncing around in Mai's mind_. I tried to show you before, but you left before it was over..._

Mai gasped a bit as she _felt_ the words crawling across her consciousness. She was used to hearing things that other people couldn't, and she'd thought that Linda had been talking those other times. But now Mai realized that somehow, this spirit was speaking directly into her mind.

Linda only stared – waiting for her answer, Mai realized.

"I – I do want to understand. I'm sorry about before, I didn't exactly wake up on my own." Mai tried to sound as gentle as Masako did when she talked to spirits, but somehow her voice always sounded nervous.

Linda's eyes flashed. _I know_.

And then Mai knew that Gene had been right. "You shouldn't have hurt Madoka for that," she said rather coldly. "She was only trying to help me."

The spirit glared and twisted in place. The chains rattled, and the blood flashed red again, but Mai forced herself to remain motionless. Linda was obviously having a tantrum.

Mai glanced at SPR's camera, which still pointed uselessly in a different direction. But the twinge of fear she felt was overwhelmed by relief; the ghost had already attacked Madoka for interfering, and Mai couldn't let Naru, Lin, or Gregory follow suit. Linda wanted to tell her something very badly, and was willing to hurt others to do it. Mai saw no other option.

So the teen psychic took a deep breath, and straightened her spine. "Alright, well, no one's here now and no one's coming. What do you need to tell me?"

Linda cocked her head. _I will show you_. And she began to drift forward.

Mai forced herself to stay in place as Linda came towards her. The chains clinked ominously, but Mai kept her eyes trained on Linda's. The air around Mai grew colder, and her gaze flicked to the temperature gauge for a moment. The hot water was still sitting on the table, and there was no beeping to indicate a drastic temperature change. No alarm would go off in the base.

This was The Plan, Mai reminded her nerves firmly. She wouldn't run... but she couldn't quite keep her fingers from shaking, either.

After all, Linda was right in front of her now... this was the closest Mai had consciously been to a violent entity since the Urado case. Memories of his horrible face and breath came over her and - _no, no!_ _Must be calm, don't think like that_. Linda didn't seem to want to hurt Mai – so long as she listened to the whole story.

Steeling herself once more, Mai's chocolate eyes opened to meet Linda's silvery ones. Up close, Mai could see tear tracks on Linda's face. A wave of compassion flooded her, and Mai managed to stay calm as the ghost extended a manacled hand towards her face.

-0O0-

AN: Yeah, I finally finished another chapter! I had a good time with this one, I hope you guys like it:) I still feel like I didn't edit enough...

I was so upset when I found out that chapter updates didn't go out for the last one. Lol, I thought to myself, "Oh no, now my readers are going to think I suck even _worse_ at updating!"

Anyway, I'm settling into my new job, not working sooo many hours - and most importantly, making a lot more money lol. I think I can even afford a new car soon! Which is good, because mine recently went on fire. For real - on fire.

And as a special treat for all my loyal, awesome, patient readers - there should be a very entertaining scene in the next chapter;) It was actually supposed to be in this chapter, but it kept getting pushed back... you know, by plot and stuff:)


	36. Chapter 36

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. If I did, the novels would be out in English. And there would be more manga. And psychic babies.**

**Chapter 36 – Emotionally Upended**

-0O0-

Naru turned from the computer screens with a sigh – there was nothing there, and he had milked the false alarm for as long as possible. Hopefully, Madoka was high enough that she'd forgotten about teasing him.

And if not, Naru could probably distract her with the promise of another pill.

But then he caught sight of the empty chair. "Where's Mai?" he asked immediately, whipping around to face his mentor. Everyone else had been watching the monitors; Madoka was the only person who would have seen Mai leave.

"She went to get tea!" Madoka replied jovially. "About... ten minutes ago." Somehow, saying the words aloud enabled the injured woman to understand her mistake. "About _too long_ ago," she amended worriedly.

Maybe it was the drugs, but Naru and Lin seemed to suddenly blur into motion. The lead investigator made to get up, as well.

"Madoka, stay here," Naru barked, throwing a walkie-talkie into her lap. "Gregory, watch the monitors while we look for Mai. Radio us_ immediately_ if you see her."

Gregory nodded sharply, falling into Lin's vacated chair as the two ghost hunters hurried out the base door. He inspected each feed carefully before thumbing the button on his radio. "She's not on any screens right now," he reported grimly.

Down the hall, Naru gritted his teeth and tried _not_ to think about the worst possible explanations for Mai's complete disappearance from the video feed. But history was against him - not only did Mai attract restless spirits like moths to a flame, she often deliberately dragged that flame to the darkest corners of the room.

"We will start with the kitchen," Lin informed the base. "The camera in there flickered a few minutes back."

"And you're only mentioning this _now?_" Naru hissed. The _onmyouji_ had watched the live feed while Naru studied the footage Lin flagged as suspicious.

"There was no corresponding drop in temperature," Lin explained evenly. "And it's perfectly normal for the feed from that camera to flicker. It's one of our older ones."

Naru huffed angrily, but made no further comment.

"Are you there yet?" asked Madoka's over-bright voice over the walkie. Neither man answered her.

"Mai?" Naru called loudly as he crossed the threshold. After all, Mai could answer him if she wasn't lying unconscious somewhere.

And then they almost fell over her unconscious body on the kitchen floor.

"Damn it!" Naru was kneeling beside Mai before Lin even steadied himself against a chair.

"We've found her," the_ onmyouji_ muttered into the walkie-talkie.

"Is she alright?" Madoka asked anxiously.

"Yes," Lin announced. "My _shiki_ insist she's unharmed."

"She's also_ unconscious_," Naru contested.

"Poor Mai-chan," Madoka groaned. "The ghosts _always_ go after her."

"I'm... not entirely sure that's what happened," Lin said slowly.

Naru paused in the act of sliding his jacket under Mai's head. "What do you mean?"

Rather than answer verbally, Lin pointed to a teacup on the counter.

"And what is that supposed to indicate?" Naru raised a querulous eyebrow. "Mai came in here to make tea."

"There's no tea in that cup," Lin answered flatly. "Only warm water. Though I'm sure it was quite hot when she placed it there, _all by itself..._"

"Beside the thermometer," Naru finished, his eyes widening in realization. He glared down at Mai's sleeping face; her already pale skin looked even paler against the black of his rolled-up jacket.

But his anger wasn't only for her - though Mai was likely the chief architect of this idiotic escapade, his brother's influence was all over the blueprints. "What sort of spirit guide leads his charge_ into_ trouble?" Naru gritted out.

"Noll?" Madoka's voice crackled over the walkie. "What's going on?"

The ghost hunter took a moment to calm down before thumbing the talk button. "Just deciding whether to exorcise Gene now, or leave it until after I kill Mai."

"What?" Madoka squawked.

"Then I can send them to the afterlife together," Naru hissed through his teeth. "Less trouble for me."

-0O0-

Mai 'woke up' in the solarium again. The same late afternoon sunlight slanted in through the windows, and Mai held the same worn book in her hands.

After many trips into the memories of others, Mai was sometimes able to retain a little of her own mind while in a post-cognitive vision. She usually wound up losing to the vision at some point, but knowing that she was 'only dreaming,' even for a short while, was a welcome change.

It was comparatively easy to maintain awareness in a vision she'd already experienced, like this one. While Linda stared unseeingly at the pages, the part of Mai's consciousness that remained independent locked its attention on the back window.

After all, the killer would come through it soon.

And Charles didn't disappoint – moments later, Mai saw a shadow cross the pane. The near-silent lifting of the window drew Linda's eyes, as well, and Mai cringed right along with her as lithe arms and legs pushed into the room.

Charles' head ducked in last – and Mai's stomach flipped as Gene's face came into view. _This wasn't how it went last time!_

Unused to changes in her death dreams, Mai dithered with panic for a moment. If Gene was here, it might mean trouble. Nowadays, he only punched his way into the most dangerous first-person death dreams.

Mai honestly didn't think that Linda was going to hurt her – but she _had_ hurt Madoka. In any case, Gene obviously felt it necessary to keep an eye on things - and of course, he just _had_ to be Charles. She hated it when Gene wound up playing the murderer. Mai tried to keep the Gene she knew distinct from whatever character he was standing in for, but it still gave those murder scenes a personal connection that Mai could definitely live without.

Suddenly, Mai felt a foreign discomfort twisting in her belly, and realized that Linda's emotions were taking over again. _Here we go_, she thought grimly. The sensation of floating over the edge of a huge waterfall overtook her... and then Linda stared at her long-time lover in confusion.

-0O0-

"What... what are you doing here?" Linda asked hoarsely. "I thought that you were still in training camp."

"Disappointed, are you?" Charles retorted, his voice full of barely-leashed fury. "Upset that it's not your _new_ lover sneaking in for a rendezvous?"

Linda winced internally. "I – I didn't..."

"Didn't what?" Charles spat. "Didn't think I knew? My brother told me about your _engagement _in his last letter. I left camp before the day was out, and called in all my favors to get home! Of course, I _assumed_ that your family had arranged this _mess_. I even thought that it might be a ruse... that you were just lying to make me jealous." If possible, Charles' eyes got even darker. "I came over as soon as I arrived – and saw you with _him_ in the garden."

Linda closed her eyes with dread. Peter had requested an un-chaperoned visit, and she'd smuggled him into the garden. They'd been out there for nearly an hour, kissing beside the fish pond.

And Charles had seen.

This was _not_ how she'd wanted him to find out. Linda hadn't wanted to tell Charles she was leaving while he was off preparing to be deployed; she didn't have the heart. _Not that your 'heart' stopped you from cheating on your lover and friend_, a nasty voice in her head whispered.

"I'm sorry, Charles," Linda whispered, looking resolutely out the window. The last rays of the sun beamed over the mountains in the distance – and Linda felt like all the warmth in the world was disappearing with the day.

There certainly wasn't any warmth coming from the direction of her ex-lover. Charles' face was rigid, his fingers flexed and frozen as though carved from ice. His grey eyes flashed arctic fire in her direction. Linda shivered uncontrollably.

"You're _sorry_?" Charles repeated incredulously. "_That's_ your response? I get _conscripted_, you say you'll _wait_ for me... do you have _any_ idea...?" He trailed off, unable to speak anymore.

"That's why I didn't _tell_ you," Linda sobbed, tears finally spilling over. "I didn't want to upset you while you were in danger..."

"Then you should have _WAITED FOR ME!_" Charles exploded. "The ONLY thing getting me through this ordeal," he hissed, tearing at his regulation shirt, "Was the knowledge that I would be coming back to _you_." Charles shook his head in disbelief, staring at Linda as if she were someone he didn't recognize. "But _you..._ you threw yourself at the first man – no, the first _rich_ man – that crossed your path." He took Linda's silence as confirmation. "You _whore!_"

Charles' anger hit her like the howling wind of a blizzard, and Linda found herself very frightened. She looked in the direction of the front door... but her parents had already left for the party. "No one's here..." she muttered, panic rising in her throat.

"Do you think that's an accident?" Charles hissed. "I've been waiting _all day_ for them to leave. Your man's not around, either. Tending to sick patients until eight o'clock tonight – his nurse told me when I called for an 'appointment.'" Charles took a step forward, his muddy boot thudding heavily against the floor.

Linda backed away immediately, looking frantically for an escape. She could run... but probably wouldn't make it to the door. Charles was faster – and _so_ much stronger. Linda found herself eyeing his improved musculature, and a twinge of attraction ran through her... followed quickly by a wave of self-disgust. She had _no_ right to be thinking of him that way anymore.

Maybe Charles wasn't entirely wrong in his assessment of her...

Unfortunately, Linda's moment of internal analysis cost her dearly. Charles leapt across the room, took her by the arms and threw her against the far wall. Even as Linda screamed and struggled, she knew no one would hear. She'd always been proud of her big house and bigger property – and now it was going to get her killed.

Linda harbored no illusions of survival; Charles was practically inhuman with icy rage. Linda felt as if her body were trapped between icebergs – a cold man and a cold wall.

Her former lover reached his hand up to her neck, and squeezed. Linda sliced at his fingers with her nails, but he wouldn't budge. Her free arm found the wall, but her fingers couldn't find any purchase. He was so strong... already lights danced in front of Linda's eyes.

From somewhere far away, Linda remembered Peter telling that such lights were 'tricks' that the brain plays on the eyes... Peter! Maybe if she told Charles that it was love, that she hadn't just left him for a softer berth...

"No," she managed, "Please... don't. I... love him!"

Charles froze for a moment, and the pressure on her neck lessened just enough for Linda to get her bearings. He wasn't letting go, though... she'd have to distract him, somehow – distract him enough that she could get away and out the door. Then she could hide, or lock herself in the kitchen with the other phone.

Linda's wild eyes locked on the ridiculous suit of armor that her father had purchased years ago. She could just about reach it with the tips of her fingers... if she kept Charles focused elsewhere, maybe she could knock it over.

"Charles," Linda whispered, biting her lip to keep his attention on her face, "I never wanted to hurt you. You were gone, and I... I'm sorry..." Her fingers brushed something long and rounded – _the spear_, she realized.

"Sorry?! You keep saying that, but you didn't look _sorry_ last night!" Charles' hand tightened on her neck again, and this time his other hand joined it. Linda choked, but kept edging her fingers toward the armor. "You didn't look _sorry_ when you pulled him closer, you... you..."

A sharp pain lanced through Linda's head – she had run out of time. With all her remaining strength, Linda threw herself sideways, closing her hand around the spear. She pulled at it with all her might, yanking it towards them...

There was a huge crash as the suit of armor came tumbling down on the both of them. Charles yelled in shock, and Linda saw his eyes widen before she closed hers against the onslaught. Charles' hands pulsed once around her neck... and then his whole body collapsed against her. His hands fell away as they went down – had he been knocked unconscious?

Freed at last, Linda rolled out from underneath him and scrambled to her feet. Pieces of armor fell from her as she stood, but Charles' arm didn't move to grab her. Linda fell hard against the wall, exhausted and unable to go further. She hoped that Charles stayed knocked out until the police came – Linda didn't think she could outmaneuver him twice. She managed to drag herself along the wall a ways before looking nervously back at the wreckage – and gasped in horror.

The helmet of the suit of armor must have detached from the body as it collapsed... and the razor-sharp edge of the helmet's neck guard had sliced right into the back of Charles' head.

Blood ran from the wound, spreading quickly across the stone floor.

Linda's legs gave out, and she fell to her knees. The skirt of her dress billowed out around her... there were huge red stains on the white lawn fabric. She crawled back to Charles, reaching out to him with a shivering hand.

No movement. No breathing. Linda swore a chill was already upon his skin.

He was dead.

She heard an awful sound, and looked wildly around the room – before realizing that the horrible keening was coming from her own throat. Linda sagged, her neck thick and screaming with pain, and her heart twisting with horror in her chest.

-0O0-

Mai was aware of herself again for just long enough to process that Linda had accidentally killed Charles. She could also sense Gene somewhere nearby, and opened her mouth to apologize for (sort of) killing him. And then she went over the waterfall again.

-0O0-

"Peter," Linda groaned into the phone. "Charles is dead. I killed him."

"_What?_" came the doctor's scandalized voice over the phone.

"I – I killed him. I didn't mean to, he was choking me and I knocked it over... the helmet killed him."

"I don't understand," Peter prattled. "_What_ happened?"

"I killed Charles, he's dead!" Linda screamed. "There's _blood_, everywhere..."

There was a long pause. "Are – are you alright?" her fiancé finally asked.

Linda gave a hysterical giggle. _Not even close_. "I'm... not... my throat hurts..."

"Alright, good – then just sit tight, darling. Everything will be fine. I'm... just writing up a prescription, so I'll be there in a bit."

Linda froze. "What?" She had almost been killed, had just accidentally murdered her oldest friend and recent lover... and Peter was_ taking a patient?! _

Her fiancé sighed. "Linda, I'm not really writing a prescription," he admitted. "I'm going to call the police, and talk to my friend the detective. I'll explain the situation as self-defense. Then there won't be a scandal, and you'll have nothing to feel guilty about."

Linda's mouth fell open in astonishment. Was he _insane?_ "I have _plenty_ to feel guilty about. I _killed_ him." She stared at Charles, dead on the floor.

"But the man tried to kill you, darling."

The way Peter had said 'the man' irrationally pissed Linda off. Like Charles wasn't good enough to be concerned over. Linda's stomach rolled.

"He _did_ try to kill you... didn't he?" Peter's voice sounded unsure.

Now he was questioning whether she'd been defending herself? Linda tasted bile on her tongue. "Yes," Linda answered slowly. "He did." Her mind reeled. "Why are you calling the police from your office?" Linda asked desperately. "Come _now_, I need help."

"See, this is why I didn't want to mention it... this way, the story is coming from an outsider. I will appear more impartial."

In other words, Peter wanted the police to know he had nothing to do with it. He wanted an alibi. Linda closed her eyes as the entire world turned to sand around her. "I'm sure it will," she whispered.

And Linda dropped the phone into the cradle, her fingers numb and her heart breaking. What had she _done?_

Charles had found out that she was engaged to another man. He abandoned his post, went AWOL, to come for her. Because he loved her. And she'd left him for someone who was shoring up his alibi instead of coming to help his bloody fiancée off the floor.

If Linda had told Charles that she killed someone, he'd have been over with a shovel in two minutes flat.

The full weight of what she'd done finally hit Linda. She'd left someone who really loved her for someone with money and prestige – someone who apparently didn't even love her very much.

And she'd killed the man who did.

Who had also tried to kill her, in response to her betrayal.

A deep, black sadness rose up around Linda... or was she sinking into it?

Did it matter?

Linda closed her eyes and let the tears fall. Charles had tried to kill her; Linda _had_ killed him. It didn't even matter that Linda hadn't meant to kill him – she was guilty, anyway. Her humongous mistake had undone both herself and Charles.

And it could never be fixed.

At least not in this lifetime. Maybe she'd be a better person in the next one.

Feeling colder than she ever had in her life, Linda searched the wreckage of the suit of armor for the jeweled knife that had been attached to the sword belt. She spotted the hilt underneath Charles' dead arm, and closed bloody fingers around it.

She had destroyed both of their lives the instant that she cheated on him with Peter. She had killed them both, right then. Death had just taken a few months to catch up to them.

Linda heard a satisfying ringing sound as she yanked the dagger from its sheath. It was the only sound she'd heard since she hung up the phone.

It didn't matter what the police decided – this _was_ her fault. And she couldn't marry Peter now; she didn't even _want_ to. She doubted he would want a damaged murderess, anyway. Linda couldn't even wish that Charles was still alive – he'd just try to kill her again.

Everything she'd ever wanted was dead or meaningless.

Linda studied the glittering hilt of the knife as she expertly flipped it over in her hand. Charles had taught her to use knives a long time ago. He'd run with a rough crowd, and was experienced in several methods of fighting. He'd thought knives were a good thing for Linda to learn about, as she couldn't abide the noise of guns – and there were plenty of knives in the house in case of an emergency.

Vaguely, Linda marveled at how calm she felt, how detached. She almost felt like she was dead already, watching this blood-stained opera come to a close from without.

The blade gleamed in the overhead light as she pointed it towards herself. _Always stab downwards and on an angle, to maximize momentum_. Charles had taught her that. The irony was not lost on Linda as she aimed the weapon as per his instructions. The rubies glittered as she aimed unerringly at her own chest. Linda took a deep breath and cut her eyes at her dead lover one more time. Charles' blood stained the floor, spreading out in a wide circle and running into the dips between the tiles.

She wondered if her blood would mingle with his in a macabre version of a 'last embrace.' She hoped it would. Eyes closed and crying, Linda stabbed the blade viciously into her own chest.

-0O0-

Mai's eyes popped wide open as she jerked up from the floor. Her hand went immediately to her chest, and she groped for an invisible knife even as the pain faded.

Nothing – no knife, no wound, no bloody skirt, no dead body six inches away. Groaning in both relief and sadness, Mai let her head fall back on onto the wood.

Mai had been wrong – they'd all been wrong. Linda hadn't been strangled, she'd killed herself. And now Mai had to pull herself together and tell somebody...

"Care to explain yourself?" asked Naru's furious voice from behind her.

Mai gasped and tried to sit up – but she should have known better. Her vision swam, her ears rang... was she actually falling over, or did it just feel like she was?

Hands caught Mai's shoulders, and she settled back against someone. Mai could smell perfume, so it must be Madoka. "Shouldn't you be resting?" Mai wheezed.

"You're one to talk," her boss replied. Madoka's tone told Mai she was in trouble.

The newly conscious ghost hunter rubbed her temples, moaning softly. If the easy-going Madoka was mad... then Naru must be in Super Rage Mode.

Hesitantly, Mai reached out with her abilities – and winced. Naru's aura grated hard against hers, seething with anger and roiling with frustration. She could also feel some relief in there, though... perhaps Mai should get this over with now, before Naru's relief at her awakening wore off.

Screwing up her courage, Mai forced her eyes open.

Naru was now right in front of her, leaning against the counter and holding an empty teacup in his hands. Upon closer inspection, his grip was so tight that his knuckles were white.

Mai gulped.

"Well?" he asked dangerously.

"I... had to talk to the ghost," Mai said softly, forcing her eyes not to look down. "Linda wanted to tell me how she died."

"I thought we had already acquired that information," Naru drawled. His preternatural calm was actually more frightening than open anger – especially since Mai could feel the contrasting wildness of Naru's aura struggling beneath the composed façade.

"Mai-chan?" Madoka asked seriously. "Was this dream different from the first one?"

Mai snapped out of her Naru-trance, sitting up and twisting in place to face Madoka. "Yes and no," she replied sadly. "You woke me up before the dream was over, remember?"

Madoka nodded ruefully, running an unconscious finger over her stitches.

"You woke me while Linda was being strangled by Charles." Mai paused, the memory of a hand squeezing her throat making it hard to swallow. She could feel it again - the pressure, the terror, the pain...

"Mai," Lin barked, using the same no-nonsense tone that so often yanked Noll out of his darker experiences. Amusingly, both Noll and Mai snapped to attention... but at least the glaze went out of Mai's eyes.

"Right," Mai continued, shaking her head to clear it. "The strangling wasn't even _close_ to the end. Linda tried to get away, and she _did_... by accidentally killing Charles." An enormous, clanging crash sounded from somewhere, and Mai's head spun sickeningly. The armor falling, the body collapsing, the shiny metal disappearing into flesh... "Then... some stuff... and a phone call... she felt really awful." Mai pinched the bridge of her nose – it was a trick Gene had taught her during their training. It both re-established a center of gravity and caused enough pain to ensure that you were awake. "Linda killed herself," Mai finally managed, staring hard at the floor and trying not to cry. "That blood I saw on the dress, it was from where she stabbed herself." Tears spattered the wooden floor as Mai thought about Linda's final moments. Linda _had_ started the chain of events, she _had_ done the first wrong, but... it was all so awful.

Some of the fight went out of Naru upon witnessing Mai's state, but his mouth remained set in a hard line. What had she been _thinking_, endangering herself like that? Couldn't she have just talked to the ghost with supervision?

Naru hadn't even decided to voice his thoughts aloud when he found himself speaking. "Why did you meet her alone? What if she had hurt you?"

Mai continued to stare at the floor.

"You deliberately tricked the temperature gage." Naru held up the teacup. "You broke protocol, even though the ghost has already hurt Madoka!" Naru could no longer keep his emotions out of his voice.

Mai took a deep, slow breath. "She hurt Madoka because Madoka interrupted her," Mai explained calmly. "Linda was trying to tell me what happened, but I woke up before the end. She was angry." Mai's eyes dropped. "So I wanted to make sure we weren't interrupted again."

"And you couldn't simply explain this to someone?" Madoka asked tiredly. "So we could have set up outside the room as a safeguard?"

"I was worried that Linda would hurt anyone who was nearby!" Mai cried.

"At the very least, we could have monitored the situation on the cameras," Lin pointed out. "And I could have had my _shiki_ standing by in case there was a problem."

But Mai refused to back down – her instincts told her that Linda would have resisted any interference. "And what if that hadn't fooled her?" she countered. "One way or another, Linda was going to tell me her story. I was simply trying to keep anyone from getting hurt."

"Excluding yourself," Naru gritted out.

"There's always a chance of being hurt on a case," Mai snapped.

"And running headlong into danger shortens those odds considerably!" Naru reproved. "When are you going to learn that your indomitable streak of self-endangerment is almost_ always_ counterproductive?"

Meanwhile, a tired Madoka nudged Lin. "Alright, Koujo, she's obviously fine – and my head can't take any more of this. Would you please help me back to base?"

Lin was only too glad to oblige. Predictably, neither the defensive Mai nor the furious Oliver acknowledged their exit.

"My instincts told me to go!" Mai cried.

"Did they also say, 'don't tell anyone anything?' or 'please make sure you utilize the most dangerous route possible?'"

"I didn't think Linda would hurt me!" Mai reiterated.

"Shorten that to 'I didn't think' and you'll be spot on," Naru spat.

"Oh, _shut_ it, Narcissist!" Mai thumped her fist against the floor for emphasis. "I was right, wasn't I? Linda _didn't_ hurt me, and now we know what really happened!"

Naru remained unmoved. "And what if you'd been wrong, Mai? What then?"

Mai tried to match his glare... but couldn't quite manage it. After all, she _had_ done something dangerous, and the consequences could have been very bad indeed. "It's not like I've never been in the hospital before," she finally muttered.

"All the more reason you should want to stay out of it in future," Naru sniped. Despite his current emotional... _issues_, Naru readily acknowledged that the image of Mai lying injured in the hospital upset him greatly.

"I just figured... I'd rather it be me than anyone else," Mai admitted softly.

Naru met her eyes. "Well, I – _we_ wouldn't," he said thickly.

Mai froze in place, shocked at the intensity of Naru's expression and the audible emotion in his voice.

It apparently shocked him, too – a second later, all traces of sentiment were gone. Naru's eyes skated away from hers, and Mai slumped against a nearby table leg. She felt a hot flush creep up her face, and the overwhelmed psychic took a moment to get herself under control.

Then Mai opened her mouth to speak, wanting to keep Emotional Naru talking - but even as she sat up to draw his attention, Mai could see him fading back to default.

"If you could possibly refrain from wandering off alone again," Naru said tightly, retrieving his coat from the floor and nudging the camera back into place with his foot, "SPR would very much appreciate it."

Mai wondered how Naru could manage to look sexy even while picking up a coat. Her blush only intensified upon realizing that his coat had been on the floor because he'd rolled it into a pillow for her. "I-I'll do my best," she stammered.

Naru was usually pleased when he caused Mai to lose focus like that - it gave him the upper hand. But this time, her blush and breathy response jolted his hindbrain in an extremely unwelcome manner. "Let's go," Naru growled, slamming the empty teacup back in its spot near the temperature gage.

As he waited for Mai at the door, Naru finally thought of something normal to say. He pointed to the innocent-looking piece of china that had started this whole mess. "Later, we can discuss the _annoyingly familiar_ trick you used to fool the thermometer."

-0O0-

Hours later, a significantly calmer Naru made his way to base. He did have years of experience in taming fluxing emotions, after all - though Naru never guessed that he would be using his _qigong_ training to level out emotional issues related to a woman.

At any rate, Naru was hoping to discuss exorcism strategy with Lin before the over-night shift started... but the room was suspiciously empty.

Where on earth was Lin? Naru raised an eyebrow - had the most dependable member of SPR actually skived off?

A quick look at the monitors revealed that Lin was fixing a snack for Madoka in the kitchen. The injured woman was slumped in a chair, her mouth set in a tight line. It must be time for her pills again; she had to take them with food, and Madoka was probably too dazed to handle much on her own.

Even so, Naru rolled his eyes. Was the nigh-imperturbable Lin so distraught at his girlfriend's injury that he abandoned his post without even calling in a replacement? Or had Madoka been whining so much that Lin just gave in to shut her up?

Suddenly, a movement on the edge of his vision drew Naru's eyes. Ah - so Lin_ had_ called in a replacement. It was just that he'd called in the wrong person for the job.

Mai lay fast asleep on the couch, a hand over her eyes to block out the light. Naru was momentarily tempted to wake her and tell her off, but decided against it. She'd had a long, ghost-filled day and they needed her to rest up for the exorcism. Besides, his mother always said that arguing late at night gave her nightmares – and Mai had enough of those already.

Naru glanced at the digitized clock on Lin's desk – it was after eleven. Mai should probably re-locate to a bed. Naru sighed - back in the days of SPR Japan, that was a task Naru would have delegated to Bou-san or Lin. But Bou-san wasn't here... and for _whatever_ _reason_, the thought of the Chinese sorcerer carrying Mai into a bedroom _irked_ him.

Not wanting to venture any further into _that_ minefield, Naru focused on alternate options. He could just leave her there... but Naru had the over-night shift tonight. How was he supposed to concentrate on the case with her lying there all night? And if Mai woke up in the middle of the night, she would want to talk.

Eventually, Naru would need to walk her to her room. So he might as well get that over with now...

"I didn't think she'd fall asleep that quickly," Lin said from behind him.

It was only long years of dealing with the supernatural that kept Naru from jumping in surprise. "We did find her asleep on the kitchen floor a few hours ago," he reminded Lin.

Lin made an amused noise. "Anything interesting happen while I was gone?" he asked, sitting down at the computers.

Naru cringed internally. He hadn't actually been paying attention to the monitors. "Nothing alarming," he said carefully. The flashing of the computer or bleeping of the thermal alarm would have drawn his focus away from Mai. "You should probably look the footage over, anyway... for continuity's sake."

Lin was glad that he was facing the monitors - Noll would have been incensed at the grin on his former bodyguard's face. "Your shift doesn't begin for another hour," Lin noted in as dry a voice as he could manage. "If you drag Mai-san to bed now, you'll have plenty of time to get a snack and some reading material."

A pause. "I suppose," Naru said, not moving an inch.

Noll was obviously still operating in Emotional Crisis Mode (as Madoka termed it), and was reluctant to do something as intimate as carry Mai to bed. However, Lin had a trump card to play. "Well, I suppose we could order Gregory to do it, he's not -"

"I'll be fine," Naru snapped, already walking briskly to the couch.

Thank goodness Lin was well-practiced at suppressing emotion. He actually managed to wait until Naru was halfway down the hall before exploding with mirth.

-0O0-

It wasn't the first time that Naru carried Mai, after all. He'd carried her to the nurse's office at Ryoukuryou High School when she fainted in the biology lab. There'd been formalin on the floor, and Naru hadn't thought twice about hauling Mai's prone body into his arms and racing for the door.

But somehow, this was... different.

As if sensing his internal drama, Mai moaned softly. Then she moved her head slightly, forehead puckered - and Naru realized that her head was bouncing a bit too hard against his shoulder.

Concerned that Mai would wake up, freak out, and bring both of them down, Naru slowly maneuvered Mai's head into the hollow between his shoulder and his chest. She didn't wake up... but she did burrow into the material of his shirt.

Ignoring the warm feeling in his chest, Naru carried Mai into her room...

...and stood over the bed, wondering what to do next.

_Put her down, idiot!_ Gritting his teeth at his newfound stupidity, Naru laid Mai down on the covers and turned away as quickly as balance would allow.

But his escape plan was foiled almost immediately - undoubtedly missing the warmth of his body, Mai moaned and grabbed for him in her sleep. Naru narrowly avoided her flailing hand, and managed to grab a blanket from the end of the bed. He pulled it over her, and Mai seemed mollified... but Naru noticed her shoes poking out from under the awkwardly placed blanket. Did putting someone to bed also entail shoe-removal?

Eventually, Naru decided that since Mai often slept at odd times and in odd places, she couldn't be too particular about shoes.

His job was done.

And yet, he inexplicably found himself standing over Mai's bed, studying her sleeping face. Perhaps it was the absence of Mai's usual plethora of facial expressions that captured his attention. Her eyes, especially, were always telegraphing her thoughts. Her face looked so different when they were closed... Naru abruptly remembered having the same thought while he waited for her to wake up after the formalin-induced fainting spell. But then he'd had a better excuse for staring at Mai - concern for his employee's health.

Though perhaps he should be concerned about that now, as well. After all, Mai had very recently witnessed Madoka's injury, passed out in a death vision, and participated in a murder/suicide by proxy.

Thinking about Mai's latest misadventure pissed Naru off all over again. Mai had to have gotten that idiotic temperature gage trick from Gene. That had been one of his favorite methods of arranging unaccompanied (and unsafe) conversations with ghosts. Naru ground his teeth - obviously, he needed to have a talk with his twin. Gene was supposed to keep Mai _out_ of danger, not teach her new ways to find it!

_However_, an increasingly irrepressible part of his brain noted, _If Gene is concentrating on teaching Mai stupid tricks, that doesn't leave much time for inadvisable romantic entanglements._

And here Naru came up against a distressing truth - though Naru _was_ anxious over the dangerous paranormal 'skills' Mai was learning, he was almost _more_ concerned by the discernible contentment he felt upon realizing that Mai and Gene would have less time to engage in out-of-body dates.

Naru tried to tell himself that he was merely glad that Mai had less opportunity to tie herself emotionally to someone who was no longer of this world... but he knew there was much more to it than that.

He didn't _want_ Mai to be with Gene like that - and it _wasn't_ just for altruistic reasons involving her happiness in life.

Naru closed his eyes at this overt admission of jealousy. It felt like he'd just loosed the first stones in an avalanche.

A feminine groan brought Naru out of his reverie. Mai twisted in the bed below, her face pinched and her voice sounding pained.

"Charles, please don't go!" she moaned, reaching up a hand as if to pull something to her.

Naru inhaled sharply - Mai was dreaming about the case again. _Was she possessed right now?_ Naru knew that her first-person dreams were sometimes the product of being possessed by the resident ghost.

Anger surged through him. "Leave Mai alone," Naru ordered quietly. "You've put her through enough." He didn't feel a drop in temperature, though... and he couldn't hear the metallic clinking that seemed to accompany the arrival of either ghost. If Mai wasn't possessed, then it was possible her previous link-up to Linda Banderson had enabled Mai to sync fully with Linda's emotions without actual spiritual contact.

Which could be just as dangerous as possession.

Mai twisted again. "You can't leave me!" she cried. "I couldn't_ bear_ it if you were captured, or hurt!"

Case research flashed through Naru's head – the ex-boyfriend Charles had gone into the army. Mai must be witnessing the day he'd told Linda he was leaving. Naru pursed his lips. Ordinarily, he would let Mai continue the dream in order to gain information... but they _had_ information. They were almost ready for the exorcism. And the obvious agony on Mai's face, even co-opted agony, made Naru's gut twist.

_Mai has done enough today_, he decided. Without further ado, Naru reached down and took hold of her shoulder. "Mai," he said softly. She calmed slightly at his touch, but was obviously still dreaming. "Mai," he repeated more firmly, leaning over her. "Mai, wake up." She only groaned more loudly, and Naru knew he had to go for the face - it seemed to work the fastest. Not wanting to slap Mai or throw water at her like others did, Naru did something he figured would throw her off, even in sleep. He took Mai's cheek firmly in his hand and brought his lips to her ear. "Mai, it's very important that you wake up," Naru said loudly, ignoring the tingling warmth of Mai's flushed cheek.

Suddenly, she stopped moving under the hand gripping her shoulder. Naru barely had time to pull back before Mai's eyes struggled open.

"Naru?" she asked hazily. "What's important?" She was barely awake.

"It was important for you to wake up from that dream," Naru replied steadily. "It's dangerous to sync so closely with a ghost, especially one you mean to exorcise."

"But you need to know as much as possible... if you're trying to calm them into leaving on their own," Mai murmured, already fading back into sleep.

"Well, that's not exactly what we're thinking of doing, and I need you to be on point tomorrow. You tend to be less reasonable when you're tired, so you need to sleep without astral projecting _or_ constantly crying out in terror."

"Hm, not something easy to control, Naru." She still managed to argue with him while practically unconscious.

"I'm sure," Naru replied fairly.

"I heard you," Mai said, smiling with her eyes closed. "Your voice told me to wake up. And I could feel you, calling me back."

"You could... feel me?" he repeated confusedly. What did that mean?

"Your aura. Can you feel mine, too?" Mai asked, reaching out blindly.

Naru threw his unoccupied hand into her path, as she seemed about to accidentally whack him in the face. "I'm... not as sensitive to auras as you are, Mai," he replied slowly – admitting that Mai had more talent in any paranormal area sort of rankled.

"Hmm, I thought, since we're so connected, that you might..." she trailed off. Her hand went slack on his arm - she was asleep again.

_Connected_, she'd said. What did Mai mean by that? She could have meant that they were 'so connected' in a social sense... Naru _was_ closer to Mai than he was to most people in his life... but it didn't sound like she was talking about that. Intrigued, Naru sat down on Madoka's bed, studying Mai and thinking.

Barely a minute later, Mai started groaning again. "Please, Charles... stay," she pleaded. Naru's eyes widened in surprise - and then narrowed in frustration. How was Mai going to get any sleep?

He wasted no time in waking her again.

"It's the bed," Mai moaned, regarding Naru blearily. "I think it was one Linda slept in, or..." She blushed. "Did something with Charles in." It was pretty obvious where her dream had been headed - when Linda was begging Charles to stay, she didn't just mean 'stay out of the army.'

Any other time, Mai would have enjoyed the way Naru stiffened beside her. But she was embarrassed herself, and exhausted.

"So sleep in the other bed," Naru finally said. "Madoka can take this one."

"You want Madoka to sleep in a haunted bed?"

"The _bed_ isn't haunted," Naru replied patiently. "Your susceptibility to Linda's emotions has caused you to sync with anything suffused with her presence. And as I was just telling you, that's dangerous."

"Could _you_ feel her emotions, if you touched the bed using your psychometry?" Mai asked interestedly.

"Probably," Naru noted. "But given what you've just told me, I'd likely see something useless and traumatizing."

Mai giggled - and then slid deliberately onto the floor next to Naru's feet, taking blankets and a pillow with her.

"What are you doing?" Naru asked in his 'are-you-an-idiot' voice.

"I won't let Madoka sleep in a haunted bed, but _I'm_ not sleeping there, either." Mai tossed the blanket around until it settled into a cocoon. "So I'll sleep down here."

"That's ridiculous."

"It is not," Mai replied testily. "I don't want any more nightmares. I have too many."

"I agree with _that_ completely," Naru murmured softly.

Buried in covers, Mai was glad that Naru couldn't see her body freeze at his words of open concern. "Besides," she said, trying to keep the conversation going, "I have no problem with sleeping on the floor. I'm from Japan, remember? I mean, I slept on floors in my apartments for years. And this rug is pretty soft, so I'll be fine."

"You could just share a bed with Madoka," Naru mused. "That would be the _reasonable_ thing to do." He piled on the disdain, trying to edge out the part of himself that found Mai's antics distressingly adorable.

"She moves around a lot," Mai countered, snuggling into the warm covers and feeling sleep pulling at her again. "It would wake me up."

By the time Naru accepted that Mai was not going to get up off the floor, she was already asleep. Sighing heavily, he sat down on the edge of Madoka's bed. He wasn't about to leave Mai alone; she was obviously the ghosts' primary target and needed supervision.

But staying with her was not helping him regain in internal peace of mind... so Naru pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, and called Madoka.

"Noll?" she asked hazily. "What's up? Where's your walkie-talkie?"

"In the base." He'd forgotten to take it with him when he'd left with Mai.

"Oh. Then where are you? Isn't it almost time for your shift? You're usually disturbingly early for duty, Nolly-no-mates."

Naru rolled his eyes. "I see your drugs have kicked in," he muttered. "You should go to bed now."

"Well I would, but I can't drag my boyfriend to bed _with_ me until you get there," Madoka simpered.

"Must you be so..." Naru just trailed off, trying to erase that image from his mind.

"Open about my looooove?" Madoka sang. "You would do well to take a page out of my book, Noll. You might even get it together some time this millennium."

"Stop being ridiculous and get up here. Mai needs looking after."

"Get up _here?_ You mean you're with Mai? In our _room?_"

Naru did _not_ like the lecherous tone that had crept into Madoka's voice. "Don't imagine stupid things. Mai fell asleep in base, and I had to carry her up here. She's not resting well, though - you'll need to share a bed to make sure she stays asleep. Ask Lin for a charm that we can put under the pillow."

"Hmm... that might take a bit," Madoka said, slurping up whatever she was eating. "It takes Lin a while to make charms. He's such a perfectionist."

"He always travels with ready-made charms against spirit intervention," Naru spat. "We just need an extra one for this bedroom."

"We-ell... he should probably take time to strengthen it," Madoka wheedled. "Mai-chan seems determined to be as involved with the ghosts as possible."

Naru couldn't argue with that. "Fine," he grumbled. "Just get up here before my shift starts. And no nonsense with Lin tonight - Mai needs you here." _And we're not going into an exorcism with three team members at half-mast._

"Oh, you'll understand love _eventually_, Noll," Madoka crooned.

Refusing to rise to the bait, Naru just hung up on her.

So Madoka would come up and relieve him. In the meantime, Naru could... stare at the wall and think. He'd neglected to bring anything useful with him - not that he could have taken a book while carrying Mai.

His personal equanimity in mind, Naru studiously avoided looking at the sleeping psychic. Over the next few minutes, he measured the dimension of the room with his eyes, analyzed the furniture to establish its age (he concluded that Mai was probably right about the beds belonging to the previous owners), and hypothesized that the perfume on Madoka's end table had been purchased by his adopted mother. It was one of her favorite scents.

Eventually, Naru's gaze found Madoka's suitcase... and saw books spilling out of it. _Excellent_. He padded over and extracted the nearest two. The first was an historical text about Ancient Chinese rituals - Madoka was quite earnest about her relationship with Lin, wasn't she? Naru smirked to himself at his mentor's unexpected sentimentality. The other textbook turned out to be a familiar guide to analyzing psychic dreams - how apropos. Naru slid the text about China back into the suitcase, and returned to Madoka's bed with the dreams book.

He gave Mai a cursory once-over – she looked peacefully unconscious – and cracked open the book. Naru remembered leafing through it back in Japan, after Mai had shown signs of psychic dreaming. He thought back to SPR Japan's second case, the child with the possessed doll... he'd returned from information gathering to find Mai unconscious and banged up. Lin informed Naru that Mai had reported seeing a strange dream after having been yanked down an obviously haunted well. Naru had monitored her carefully over the next case...

Mai twisted in her cover-cocoon, whimpering softly. Naru raised his eyebrows. More nightmares? He wondered whether Mai ever _really_ slept on cases. Naru remembered Masako Hara complaining that Mai was a noisy sleeper, but he'd assumed that she was simply being catty. Perhaps he should have taken the medium more seriously.

"Nooo," Mai groaned. Her face twisted and a hand emerged from the cocoon. "Naru, help me..."

He froze on the bed. Could she sense that he was nearby? Mai had said that she _felt_ him earlier...

"Make it go away," she whispered. "Please?" Her hand stretched unerringly towards him.

As he extended his hand to Mai, Naru felt as if he were reaching across a much larger precipice than the gap between bed and floor. He stopped for a moment, gazing into space and actually listening to what his instincts were trying to tell him.

Then Mai actually cried out in her sleep, and Naru quickly took her hand. She quieted immediately, and Naru couldn't help staring at her, his brain working a mile a minute and his internal workings rocked by the undeniable satisfaction he felt at Mai's response to his touch.

It couldn't be _that_, he told himself. Naru was almost as amazed by the desperation coloring that thought as he was by the conclusion his mind kept throwing in his face.

Mai pulled his hand toward her body, and Naru unthinkingly allowed himself to be pulled to the floor. He was too busy trying to find solid mental ground to stand on.

He didn't even realize that he had pulled Mai onto his lap... Naru looked down and she was just _there_. Tear tracks gleamed wetly on her face and Naru felt a surge of emotion. The hand not locked in Mai's death grip reached down and wiped them away, stroking her cheek gently. Mai smiled softly in her sleep and Naru closed his eyes, suddenly and irrationally terrified. His head flopped back onto the mattress behind him and he tried very hard to ignore Mai's breath on his thigh.

It couldn't be _that_. It would be fruitless. Mai didn't love him, she loved Gene.

_Who is dead_, his mind reminded him mercilessly.

"Who Mai still sees on a regular basis," he hissed to... himself. Cripes, one step toward whatever _this_ was and he was already descending into schizophrenic madness.

_It's not Gene she's calling for now_, his traitorous mind noted. _Not Gene she's clinging to like a limpet_.

"He's not here," Naru reasoned, arguing with himself out loud again. He _was_ going crazy...

_Not crazy_, his brain insisted. _In denial_.

Naru had no counterpoint for this assertion. Denying he was in denial was beyond redundant. So Naru moved immediately to suppress his thoughts by focusing on the outside world... but that just brought him back to Mai's breath against his leg and their interlocked hands. Which brought him back around to thinking about _that_.

Oliver Davis exhaled testily, and did the only thing he could think of to stop the vicious cycle. He closed his eyes, blanked his mind...

And fell asleep.

-0O0-

Madoka snuck down the hall towards the bedroom she shared with Mai, hoping that she might catch Noll staring cutely at Mai. She even had her cell phone camera at the ready - Noll was annoyingly quick.

But when Madoka slipped into the room, she found Mai's bed empty. Messy, but empty. It was also missing covers... wait, why were the covers on the floor? Madoka edged around the bed - and stopped, mouth dropping open in shock.

In her perusal of Mai's bed, Madoka had somehow missed seeing Noll's head leaning against her own bed.

But there was no way she could possibly miss that Noll was asleep on the floor, slumped against the bed with a happy-looking Mai out cold on his lap. One of Mai's hands was fisted in the fabric of Noll's pant leg; the other... was holding Noll's_ hand_. Of course, Madoka immediately looked for Oliver's other hand – which was tangled in Mai's _hair!_

Hysterical laughter bubbled up inside Madoka, and she clamped a hand over her mouth to keep from alerting the couple to her presence. How exactly had this... oh, who cared about how it happened, this was progress! _Lots_ of progress!

With an evil smile, Madoka raised her cell phone and snapped at least ten pictures. She made sure to get every angle possible, including a close-up of the hand-holding. Neither Noll nor Mai even stirred, despite the camera's picture-snapping noise and Madoka's quiet giggles. '_Not resting well' indeed._

Despite the late hour, Madoka texted Yasuhara the best picture. She also texted Lin, who should be almost done with his charm-strengthening and would likely want to see this for himself. She set the phone to vibrate just as Yasu blew up her phone with tons of expletive-filled texts in all caps.

_WHAT THE F***? IS THIS REAL?_

_THEY'RE NOT POSSESSED, ARE THEY?_

_SPAT OUT MY FOOD ALL OVER THE COUNTER, YOU'D BETTER NOT BE SH***ING ME!_

Madoka typed back, giggling even harder. _Totally real, and I don't think they're possessed – these ghosts wouldn't be so lovey-dovey_.

Lin swept in a moment later, goggling appropriately. "They're not possessed," he noted, a hint of awe threading his usual flat tone.

"No, I don't think so," Madoka snorted gleefully.

"Should we... wake them?" Lin asked hesitantly. That would be the _responsible_ thing to do...

Madoka turned horrified eyes on her boyfriend. "_What?_ Of course not! We've waited so _long_ for something like this to happen! Besides – just think of how hilarious it will be when they wake up like that!"

Lin's lips twitched involuntarily. "Fine, but we are _not_ sitting up all night waiting for that to happen," he said severely, dragging his girlfriend from the room. "We are conducting an exorcism tomorrow."

His girlfriend pouted for a moment. Then her enthusiasm returned so fast that it made Lin slightly dizzy. "Ooh, I know! Since Noll's obviously unavailable for the over-night shift," she said with a smirk, "Let's kick Gregory onto base duty, and we can stay _together_ tonight!"

"I will take base duty, and you can stay in my room with Gregory." Lin's tone brooked no argument. "You are injured and on drugs... and I don't go vegetarian on cases just to lose myself to _your_ carnal appetites."

"You know, that might be the sexiest thing you've ever said," his girlfriend replied, winking cheekily.

Lin rolled his eyes. "As a lover of horror movies, you must know what usually happens to idiots who have sex in haunted houses."

"Yasu's still alive," Madoka pointed out. Her phone buzzed with another text - had Yasu sensed that she was talking about him?

_CAN'T BELIEVE I'M MISSING THE BEST CASE EVER, I HATE COLLEGE!_

Madoka snorted again. _Don't worry, I'm sure it'll only get better;)_ Madoka wrote back. _Though I was hoping Noll's fall from grace would loosen Lin up enough to have *fun* on a case... but no go, again._

_Oh, I'm sure it will get worse before it gets better_, Yasu texted back. _And sorry to shatter your dreams, but I don't even think slipping Lin your drugs would loosen him up enough_.

Madoka stuck her tongue out at the phone. "I don't know if I can live in a world where _Noll_ has more fun on cases than I do," she muttered plaintively.

Lin smiled faintly. "I can almost guarantee we'll be having more fun than Noll when he wakes up tomorrow morning."

-0O0-

AN: So... yeah, I'm back. It turns out working over-time every week is not conducive to getting chapters out with any regularity. Who knew?:/

And yes, my car really did go on fire... which was entirely my fault lol. I was adding oil in the rain, and my grip on the container slipped. A little oil fell onto the just-turned-off engine, and up came the flames. Luckily, I kept blowing on the fire while I was jumping up and down screaming for help, so it stayed small and I managed to get it out without a major incident.

Now when my doctor asks about my asthma, I can say it's well-controlled enough to blow out a car fire:)

At any rate, this is by far the longest chapter ever - because I wanted to make sure the sleepy-time scene made it in;)

So please forgive me, I'm doing my best:) You guys are wonderful:)


	37. Chapter 37

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. The novels would be out in the English... and would include psychic babies.**

**A/N: Apologies for my unforgivably long absence follow at the bottom.**

**-0O0-**

**Chapter 37 – The Turn of the Tide**

**-0O0-**

Mai woke up feeling _wonderful_.

She'd actually gotten some real sleep on a case! Maybe she should sleep on the floor _all_ the time... Mai opened well-rested eyes to find the patterned rug staring her in the face. _It's nice and warm,_ she noted sleepily. Her back, especially, felt super warm and comfy.

But wait... shouldn't the floor be colder than a bed? _Hmm, maybe I'm snuggled up against a radiator_. Mai wiggled around a bit to get a feel for her immediate surroundings...

...and became aware of several things in rapid succession.

1) Something shifted against her back – something _alive_.

2) She could feel a heartbeat against her shoulder blade.

3) There was an arm around her waist.

4) Her hand was holding someone else's.

Mai gasped – was she in a psychic dream again? The teen psychic's eyes flew downward, hoping against hope that she wouldn't see Charles' tanned, callused hand clasping hers.

And she didn't.

Mai breathed a sigh of relief; her fingers were interlaced with pale, elegant ones that could only belong to Naru.

Wait... _WHAT?!_

Years of re-living death scenes and seeing ghosts pop out of nowhere enabled Mai to successfully swallow the freaked-out scream building in her throat. Instead, she turned her body veeeery slooooowly... and came face to face with a slumbering Naru.

Mai's breath caught. Naru was almost more beautiful in sleep. The peacefulness in his expression was unbelievable, and the utter relaxation Mai could practically feel emanating from his supine body astonished her. Any other time she'd seen Naru asleep, he'd seemed tense and uncomfortable. Granted, most of those episodes had involved hospital beds, ambulances, and the back of the SPR van, but still... Mai's thought processes ground to a halt as Naru shifted closer, her head spinning at the tangible reminder of their proximity.

And speaking of proximity – how exactly had this happened? Mai remembered that Naru had been in the room with her last night, and that he'd woken her up during a vision... Or had he woken her twice? As if in answer, Mai's own voice crawled across her mind. '_Naru, help me_.'

That's right, Naru _had_ helped her twice. Mai had sensed he was still there, so she'd called out to him... and Naru had taken her hand. The reality of his touch had pulled Mai back to the present and out of the nightmares.

And then... Naru had _stayed with her_.

Blood rushed to Mai's face like a _shinkansen_ through the Japanese countryside. "_Sugoi_," she whispered softly. Naru was lying next to her right now... his body was so warm against hers... She simply couldn't keep her free hand from touching Naru's cheek. Maybe if Mai were braver (or dumber), she would take off her glove and run bare fingers along his cheekbone...

-0O0-

Naru was the type to snap into consciousness almost instantly. This morning, however, he drifted slowly out of sleep as if waking from an anesthetic haze.

He also felt curiously _content_ upon coming to. Naru generally regarded sleep as the wasted time between one day and another... but today, his body seemed happy to remain abed.

Eventually, Naru became aware of something warm and soft running along his face. Lifting his arm from the strangely warm pillow on which it rested, Oliver trapped the something soft against his cheek.

Immediately, someone gasped – and Naru's eyes shot open to find Mai Taniyama inches away, mouth open and shocked eyes glassy with sleep.

Naru's eyes narrowed in confusion. Hadn't he been sitting up when he fell asleep? Why hadn't Madoka shown up to relieve him? How exactly had he wound up lying next to an inappropriately disheveled Mai on the floor?

Mai's hair was falling into her face, her blue tank top was rumpled – and worst of all, the lounge pants she'd been wearing yesterday were no longer securely cinching her waist but instead riding quite low on her hips. To Naru's dismay, a tremendous amount of willpower was needed to keep his eyes away from the ring of revealed skin.

The fact that his increasingly aware brain apparently had _no problem whatsoever_ with Mai's _dishabille_ was more disturbing than the situation itself.

Something moved in his grasp, and Naru belatedly realized that he had trapped Mai's gloved hand against his cheek. He let go instantly - but Mai didn't scurry away like he'd expected. Instead, her arm dropped limply into the bit of space between them while she continued to stare open-mouthed into his eyes.

Oliver set his own hand down on the rug, intending to push himself off the floor... but as the tips of his fingers brushed Mai's hip on the way down, he apprehended that the 'warm pillow' that he'd imagined before had actually been Mai's waist.

Naru closed his eyes in mute horror. He had been _holding Mai in his sleep_.

And Mai had woken up first, so she _knew_ about it. No wonder she was incapable of coherent reaction... wait, why was his other arm tingling? Naru briefly broke eye contact with Mai to look down at -

_Oh_.

To make matters worse, Naru's other arm was cradling Mai's neck. And their fingers were laced together. On the floor of Mai's bedroom.

Wait, on the floor? Why were they on the floor? Naru wildly searched his memories, willing his whirring thoughts to coalesce into a clear picture.

They were on the floor because Mai had wanted to sleep there last night.

She'd been having nightmares about the case. Naru remembered taking her hand... and sliding onto the floor next to her. Somehow, she'd wound up in his lap, and Naru hadn't wanted to disturb her by leaving. Mai had calmed immediately, her sleep becoming peaceful and her face content. Unable to find an acceptable alternative, Naru had followed Mai into oblivion... and apparently into the makeshift blanket-bed.

Where they'd spent more time in physical contact than Naru had spent with anyone ever.

Naturally, Mai chose that _exact_ moment to regain conscious movement. Her neck slid along Naru's trapped arm, and her thigh bumped up against his knee.

And to Naru's utter chagrin, the increase in body contact caused an immediate physical response.

Which Mai promptly made worse. "Naru?" she asked caringly. "Are you okay?" Naru tried (and failed) to be annoyed by the breathy and intimate timbre of Mai's voice.

_At least she didn't ask it in Japanese_, he mused idly.

And with _that_ troubling and unwanted thought, Naru knew he needed to shove his mind onto another track.

But Mai's psychic gifts tended to assert themselves in the most confounding ways. Obviously recognizing the signs of deep unrest in Naru's eyes, Mai asked the question they always asked one another at times like this. "_Daijoubu?_"

Naru froze.

"_Sorry I don't have any tea_," she continued in Japanese. "_But don't worry – I'll make some as_ _soon as we get downstairs_." Mai's tone sparkled with humor.

Normally, Naru would respond with a sarcastic retort - but he was way too busy watching Mai's lips shape the words she was speaking. The cadences of her native tongue sounded simultaneously familiar and exotic. Naru wasn't used to hearing Japanese anymore... and it seemed like the only person who used it in his presence was Mai.

Or maybe he only noticed when she spoke it.

"_Naru?_" Mai tried again. "_Seriously, are you okay?_ _Are you sore from sleeping?_"

Damn it, she was still doing it.

"_I feel like I bruised my shoulder, or something_." Completely unaware of the effect she was having on him, Mai rolled her shoulders back. And despite stern orders from his brain, Naru's eyes followed Mai's undulating motion all the way down to their entwined feet.

His thought processes stymied, Naru stared freely at Mai's knee sliding over his black-clad leg as she stretched. He was similarly unable to tune out Mai's half-groaned complaints about the stiffness of her limbs. In Japanese. When Mai retracted a gloved hand from the floor to rub the offending shoulder, Naru didn't even bother fighting his fascination with the shiny fabric of Mai's black glove. Unbidden, the memory of Mai flying down the stairs in a shiny nightdress superimposed itself over Naru's field of vision.

He had liked the dark blue color of the nightgown, but the black gloves were even better. It was like Mai was...

A surprised gasp shocked Naru's brain back on. He looked up to find Mai gaping at him, her mouth hanging open in shock. Naru searched their immediate vicinity for the problem... _oh_.

When exactly had he grabbed Mai's hand?

-0O0-

Mai was frozen like a deer in headlights. She had no idea what was going on.

Mai had expected Naru to go immediately cold upon waking up next to her on the floor – guards up, zero facial expression, body drawn up tight. Then he would jump away from her and say something cutting before stalking away to be a surly jackass all day. That was just how Naru worked.

Then Naru adjusted his grip on her hand, and Mai was forced to reevaluate her expectations.

Here they were, hand in hand and lying on the floor. Or more correctly, hands in hands. Naru now had hold of Mai's free hand, as well... and seemed to have no intention of releasing it. Instead, he was staring amazedly like he had never seen it before.

Mai was pretty thunderstruck, too. Naru hadn't even freaked out when she'd touched his face! Mai hadn't meant to do it, she just couldn't help herself – but he _hadn't_ _moved away_.

And now Naru was studying her face with an intensity usually reserved for ghost hunting.

Mai knew she was blushing. It felt like her skin grew physically hotter the longer Naru's eyes burned into her. It seemed like he was searching for something in her face... like he was looking for an answer. Naru usually only looked like that when someone was hurt, or possessed, or – _oh!_

"_I-I'm not possessed_," Mai stuttered out.

Naru only narrowed his eyes in confusion. "_What?_" he asked softly.

Mai tried very hard not to focus on how sexy Naru's just-woken-up voice sounded. Or the fact that he'd answered her in Japanese. Other than occasionally switching languages to address Mai as _baka_, Naru had only spoken one word of Japanese the entire time she'd been in England. "I'm not possessed, Naru," she elaborated, switching to English in an effort to get through to him. "The nightmares are gone. They didn't come back at all." Mai couldn't keep from smiling widely. "I don't think I've ever slept that well on a case!"

The teen psychic wasn't exactly sure what she had expected Naru to do upon this declaration – but Mai wouldn't have guessed he would stare even harder at her face with a troubled look in his eyes.

"I'm not possessed," Mai insisted.

A muscle in Naru's cheek twitched. "I might be," he replied enigmatically.

Mai inhaled sharply – wouldn't she have sensed that? She pressed her fingers harder against Naru's, trying to feel his skin through the tiny holes in her gloves. If he _was_ possessed, direct contact would help Mai discern the presence of a spirit. But she felt nothing unearthly...

So instead Mai stared up into Naru's eyes – and stopped breathing. Mai was utterly mesmerized by the emotions she could see swimming in the dark blue depths.

Naru watched the expression in Mai's eyes shift from nervous to awed, and realized his face must be giving too much away. He'd been too busy attempting to sort through his confounding _feelings_ to maintain a stoic mien, and now Mai was staring like he was the strangest thing she'd ever seen.

_Step right up to see the great Oliver Davis act like an over-emotional nitwit!_ The catcalling voice in his head sounded like a strange mixture of Gene and Yasuhara.

Feeling incredibly foolish, Naru dropped Mai's hand. He pulled his leg out from under hers, rolled away from her body, and fired off a string of silent obscenities at whatever part of himself was responsible for this mess.

"Naru..." Mai began.

He closed his eyes and said nothing. He was obviously incapable of dealing normally with Mai right now.

And then her gloved fingers across his cheek again.

Naru's eyes snapped open.

"There was a piece of lint," she explained softly, holding it up between them. "A Narcissist can't walk around with pink lint on his face." Mai's eyes danced as she spoke, and Naru's insides twisted.

He absolutely _could not help_ reaching over and gently lifting a matching snarl of detritus from Mai's hair.

Just like Mai couldn't help gaping at Naru like he'd gone crazy.

Maybe he had.

However, Naru was still self-aware enough to know he had to get out of this situation _immediately_. He needed to think about something else, and that obviously wasn't going to happen while lying on the floor with Mai. Gritting his teeth, Naru groped for a normal response. "It's cerise," he said finally.

Mai peered at him uncomprehendingly. "What?"

"The rug isn't pink," Naru replied as smugly as he could manage, deliberately avoiding Mai's eyes as he levered himself off of the floor. "It's cerise."

Mai definitely heard That Tone in Naru's voice – the Tone that usually got her back up in two seconds flat. Automatically, her mouth opened to snipe back.

But Naru was talking about a rug they'd been lying on together all night.

And he'd just slid a piece of _cerise_ lint out of her hair.

And before that, he'd grabbed her hand.

And most importantly – Naru had only been on the floor to help her keep the nightmares away. She owed him one.

Mai promptly swallowed the retort on the tip of her tongue, and smiled gently at Naru's tensed-up back. "Sooo... is cerise more acceptable than pink?" she joked. Maybe if she acted like nothing out of the ordinary had happened, he wouldn't go J-Alert on everyone today.

A quick look at Naru's clenched fists told her that brushing this off wasn't going to work. Time to break out the big guns. "Naru, I – I'm sorry," Mai apologized.

Her words surprised Naru enough that he turned back around. "What?" he asked uncomprehendingly (the irony of role reversal not escaping him).

Mai had no idea what to make of Naru's expression. "I'm sorry about all this," she explained, waving a hand at the mess of blankets on the floor. "I get nightmares all the time, I'm sorry I dragged you into it." She chuckled. "Literally."

"Mai." Naru's voice was commanding and steady, even as his insides rollicked around like a small boat caught in a squall. When Mai's head snapped up, Naru forced himself to meet her unnecessarily penitent gaze. "Don't apologize. I..." Naru had no idea how to continue without revealing something he didn't understand himself. "It worked, and now you're better-rested for the exorcism."

And he was better-rested than he'd been since... ever. Naru forced this thought away. "We need to plan the exorcism, so come downstairs as soon as you're dressed."

"Okay," Mai nodded, standing up in the blanket-nest and smoothing her rumpled shirt. Then she took in Naru's full-length appearance, and couldn't help giggling. "_You_ should probably change, too. Imagine what Madoka would say if you walked into base like that."

Glancing down, Naru's jaw clenched at the sight of his half-untucked shirt, wrecked collar and hopelessly wrinkled pants. There were also several clumps of carpet lint plastered to his clothes.

Naru knew _exactly_ what Madoka would say if she saw this. He could hear the endless innuendo interspersed with childish sniggering already. But Mai seemed unaware of an important fact. "The same things she'd say to _you_, I'd imagine," Naru replied with a smirk. "And given the rooming situation, she'll probably see _you_ first."

Mai's eyes bugged satisfyingly. "_Ie!_" she cried, racing into the bathroom.

Naru tried to savor the victory as he strode away... but he couldn't help feeling like he'd won a battle and lost a war.

-0O0-

The boys' bedroom was mercifully empty when Naru all but flung himself inside. His usual disdain for company magnified exponentially, the ghost hunter made sure to close the door behind him. Naru even briefly considered jamming a chair underneath the knob.

His walk down the hallway had been debilitating. Getting away to 'think clearly' was evidently an ever bigger mistake than falling asleep on the floor. Once the distraction of Mai's presence was removed, the 'petty emotional drama' Naru had been suppressing came crashing back into his head with a vengeance. The case he intended to focus on was all but forgotten.

And after his extremely unusual wake-up call, Naru could no longer shift the mountain of evidence to the side in defense of his position. He reckoned that a bulldozer would have a hard time sweeping the mountain away.

He didn't even bother insisting it wasn't _that_. "But there_ could_ be another explanation," he muttered rebelliously.

Now to find another explanation.

_It is perfectly normal_, Oliver Davis postulated silently (ignoring the hint of desperation in his mental tone), _for one's body to seek warmth and comfort while unconscious. The fact that it was Mai I followed onto the floor is simply unfortunate coincidence._

When forming a hypothesis, it was Naru's custom to first identify his possible thesis and then ferret out any holes in his logic. In this case, he really didn't want to.

But despite this decidedly unscientific desire, Naru's mind was _extremely_ quick to point out the glaring holes in his argument.

_The fact that you were in the position to follow Mai into bed was the result of a CONSCIOUS decision you made to grab her hand_, his internal sounding board countered swiftly.

Naru gritted his teeth.

_And THAT decision was predicated by your choice to wake Mai via cupping her cheek and whispering in her ear._

Why did his internal sounding board sound so _gleeful_ today?

"I wasn't about to throw water at her," Naru hissed to himself. Out of reflex, he marked the time that the newly developed pseudo-schizophrenia set in. "Or _slap_ her like those other idiots."

It was the kind of argument Naru would give to Madoka – something slightly humanizing to appease her, mixed with a little meanness to redirect her focus away from the uncomfortable subject. It worked eight times out of ten.

But Naru was not Madoka – Oliver Davis gave no quarter for deflective justifications.

_So the extremely sentimental alternative you elected seemed a more NORMAL response_?

Naru had no counter for that one. Normally, he shied away from any sort of physical affection; even when he accepted Luella's hugs, he was awkward and slow to react. Naru was _never_ the initiator.

_Speaking of initiating_, his mental antistrophe continued blithely,_ the entire situation was caused by your illogical decision to carry Mai to bed._

At least on this point, Naru could defend himself. "What else could I have done?" he argued aloud. "I wasn't about to leave Mai sleeping in the base."

_Why not?_ Naru's 'sounding board' suddenly sounded a lot like Madoka. _Oh, right, because you'd be DISTRACTED by her presence_.

"She is a distracting person," Naru insisted. A hundred different scenes of Mai ran through his mind. _Mai yelling, Mai laughing, Mai tripping over nothing. Mai sticking her tongue out at him, Mai handing him tea, Mai curling up on her favorite chair in the Davis sitting room..._

Naru ruthlessly quashed the warm feelings rising inside him and sought other, more _appropriate_ examples of Mai's distracting nature.

_Mai dropping cameras, Mai asking endless questions, Mai's awed look when he answers her questions, Mai's happy smile upon finishing equipment set-up..._

Damn it. Naru tried again.

_Mai strolling in late to work, Mai rolling her eyes at his rebukes, Mai poking fun at him, Mai drawing herself up in anger, Mai lifting her chin before starting to chant... the steadiness in her voice as floorboards exploded around them, her fingers curling into his shirt as he rolled them away from the wrecked hallway..._

Naru gritted his teeth.

_Mai yelling for him in panic..._

But that didn't _annoy_ Naru so much as _worry_ him. Mai seemed to call for him whenever she was in danger... and he's always jumped before she hit the second syllable of his name. Whatever else Naru was thinking about fell right out of his brain when Mai screamed.

Naru drew a shaky breath as the tenor of his thoughts continued to change.

_Mai raging at him in the cave, the relief in her eyes when he woke up in the hospital... the blush on Mai's face when Naru smiled at her for the first time, the look in her eyes when she thanked him for the video, the way her hair fell in front of his eyes when she kissed his cheek..._

Aware that his plan had backfired spectacularly, Naru gave in and allowed the wash of memory to sweep him toward its goal.

_The hypnotic effect of Mai's hand reaching out for him this morning, the way his thoughts ground to a halt when she touched his cheek..._ Naru swallowed hard as the ghost of her touch slid along his cheekbone.

_The way he felt when Mai's nightmare-stricken visage calmed under his touch... the overwhelming tenderness he felt upon studying Mai's sleeping face._

Mai's face had remained so clear in his memory, even after two years apart. Her voice stayed so strong in his head that Naru used to wonder whether Mai was somehow_ in_ London and hiding just out of sight.

The way her words resonated within him – every argument, every joke, every amazingly intuitive thing she came out with. Mai's intuition was tied to her empathetic and caring nature in a way that Naru seldom failed to appreciate.

Naru closed his eyes in defeat as his self-awareness shifted to accommodate the obvious.

-0O0-

The instant Mai walked into base, she knew it was going to be a trying day.

Madoka Mori was sitting right inside the door – and obviously lying in wait. She was also wearing fresh clothes... so Madoka must have been in the room at some point. Which meant she'd seen something.

Of course, the master ghost hunter's shark-like grin was also a dead giveaway.

Mai briefly debated hiding upstairs until Naru emerged to deal with his mentor.

"Now don't be a chicken, Mai-chan," Madoka sang, as if reading her newest protégée's mind. "Might as well rip off the bandage now – I'll only torment you later. We _do_ share a room, you know." The shark grin returned. "Unless you plan on sleeping with Noll again, of course."

"Ugh, don't_ say_ it like that!" Mai cried, face hot and voice tight.

"You would prefer 'tangled up in one another on the floor?'" Madoka giggled. "_I_ think that sounds worse, but..."

"_Please_ shut up," Mai moaned, flopping onto the couch. "He was just trying to help me with my nightmare."

"Wait, you had your Nightmare last night?" Madoka asked quickly, snapping into Concerned Mode.

"No, not _The _Nightmare." Mai shook her head. "But the bed I was sleeping in... I think it must have originally belonged to Linda. It triggered a repeating psychic nightmare."

"Prompting your shift to the floor," Madoka surmised. Then she raised an eyebrow. "But why didn't you just sleep in _my_ bed?"

"I would have fallen asleep before you came in," Mai explained. "You wouldn't have known not to sleep in the haunted one."

"Aww, Mai-chan." Ruffling Mai's hair affectionately, Madoka plopped down next to her on the couch. Then she closed her eyes as the world spun. "Cripes, I have to remember not to move so fast," she groaned.

Mai peered worriedly at Madoka's bandage. "Have you changed the dressings yet?" she asked. "Take it from someone who knows – you want to keep up with that stuff."

"Lin changed my bandages last night before we went to bed," Madoka affirmed – and that near-malicious grin crept over her face once more.

Mai reckoned it looked even more ominous from close up. "Well, that's good," Mai noted airily, standing up and looking to the monitors. Maybe she could slip the headphones on really fast and pretend to hear an EVP or something.

And then the room pitched as Madoka unceremoniously yanked the teen psychic back down onto the couch.

"Not so fast," the lead investigator hissed. "My head injury and I didn't wake up extra-super-early to be thwarted by maidenly shyness!"

"_Madokaaaaa!_"

"_Mai-chaaaaaan!_"

In desperation, Mai summoned her best puppy-eyes. "_Please_ let it go?"

Madoka's raised eyebrow and unrelenting expression reminded Mai _way_ too much of her recent accidental bedmate. "Not a chance."

Mai wilted, and Madoka hugged her slumped shoulders. "Mai-chan," she said seriously. "Do you have _any_ idea how long we've been waiting for something like this?"

"You guys need a hobby," Mai grumbled.

Madoka continued as if she hadn't heard. "I mean, I come into the room last night and there's Noll – _Noll_, whose own adopted mother has to put in advance requests for physical affection – sitting there unconscious with your head in his lap!"

"I know, Madoka, I was there – wait, hold on!" Mai pulled out of Madoka's embrace and stared her boss down. "Naru was sitting up when you saw us?" Mai had been under the impression she'd yanked him all the way down to the floor.

"Are you saying he _wasn't_ sitting when you woke up?" Madoka gasped.

"W-well, most people lie down when they're sleeping," Mai tried to backpedal.

"So Noll was lying down next to you?!" Madoka was practically vibrating with excitement. "Were you still_ holding hands_ when you woke up?"

No amount of _onmyouji_ training could keep Mai from blushing at the completely spot-on accusation. "I-I don't really remember..." she lied weakly.

"_Bullocks!_" Madoka yelled.

"It's, um, kinda hazy?" Mai tried again. She wasn't lying this time – the entire encounter still felt like some awesome-yet-terrifying dream.

But it had definitely been Real Naru in the dream this time...

Madoka misinterpreted Mai's newly faraway expression. "Hang on – did you guys _kiss?!_" she shrieked.

"What? _No!_" Mai cried, waving her hands wildly. Unbidden, an image of Naru's hand reaching into her hair slid into Mai's mind. She bit down hard on her lip to keep from smiling.

"But _something_ happened," Madoka decided. "You're looking _far_ too pleased for –"

"Considering that one of you is nursing a head injury," a deep voice interrupted, "I would like to remind you both that speaking at such decibels is counterintuitive."

"Lin!" Mai cried in relief.

The _onmyouji_ raised an eyebrow at the desperation on his student's face – like he was the last life raft on a sinking ship.

Lin had successfully avoided overt entanglement in this morning's drama thus far... although he _had_ just witnessed a practically catatonic Noll stare unblinkingly at a blank wall for at least five minutes.

Gregory had yanked him into the boys' room, hissing about Dr. Davis appearing to be possessed. After listening to the report from his_ shiki_, Lin had unthinkingly replied, "Oliver is not possessed – not by a _ghost_, anyway." Gregory's slack jaw and comprehending eyes probably meant that the gossip mill at SPR would be working overtime upon their return.

However, Lin found himself unconcerned with his slip of the tongue – as far as the_ onmyouji_ was concerned, Noll was in Lin's debt. It was Noll's ego and emotional stuntedness that kept forcing Lin into the middle of these emotional situations.

Speaking of emotional situations... Mai Taniyama was still screaming '_Save me!' _with her eyes. Lin sighed. "Noll will be down soon," he lied. "And you will ruin whatever progress he's made by harping on this, Madoka."

His girlfriend had barely slumped into an accepting pout when Mai fired up. "Progress?" she asked disbelievingly. "Please don't tell me you agree with Madoka's crazy theory about Naru –"

Lin threw Mai a glare so cold that her body froze along with her words. "Progress toward ending this case," he hedged. "We're almost done, and the last thing we need is Noll running off in a sulk."

Mai's face cleared. "Oh. Yeah, that makes sense."

The _onmyouji_ wasn't sure whether to congratulate himself for successfully defusing both women or smack his head into the nearest wall until he blacked out. Was Mai truly so dense, or was she retreating to the same wall of denial Noll was barricaded behind?

When Madoka tossed him a conspiratorial wink, Lin decided not to think about it anymore. He sat down at the monitors and logged temperature flares in the solarium.

After all was said and done, perhaps Lin would suggest that Koujo was a nice name for the first child of two of his students.

-0O0-

Whatever Naru had expected upon meeting Mai's eyes for the first time since his... acquisition of new knowledge, it definitely wasn't for her to immediately slam into an invisible wall and slump to the base floor.

"Mai!" Naru streaked to her side and slid a hand underneath her shoulders. She tensed immediately, and Naru wondered whether she was uncomfortable around him after this morning's _events_.

Then Mai's eyes rolled into the back of her head, and Naru gritted his teeth at his own stupidity as she collapsed into his hold.

"She's fallen into a vision," he barked at the dithering Madoka and Gregory. "Help me get her onto the couch."

Gregory dutifully grabbed Mai's legs, and together they eased her onto a softer berth. As Gregory turned away to retrieve the EEG equipment, Madoka sidled up next to Naru and pulled him in close. "I told you to bulk up," she whispered tauntingly into his ear. "Maybe if you were stronger, you could have dumped Mai onto a bed and saved yourself _a night on the floor together_."

"Your argument is without merit," Naru hissed back. "I carried her out of the base _and_ upstairs last night."

"Ah, that's riiiight," Madoka nodded as if she'd forgotten. "So then you _chose_ to cuddle together on the floor rather than move Mai to a bed."

Naru froze for a whole minute before grinding out, "Madoka, _shut up_ or so help me –"

"Look here!" Gregory called, waving his free arm. "The EEG is picking something up!" Gregory's waving fingers glistened; he had paused in the middle of spreading gel on Mai's wrist.

Naru also noticed that Mai already had electrodes attached to her temples. Normally, he would be impressed with Gregory's efficiency – but presently, Oliver Davis could barely stop himself from slapping the intern's hand away from Mai's unconscious body.

He forced himself to walk calmly over to the EEG machine and study the readout with Madoka. Gregory was right; the waves signified that Mai's brain was extremely active despite her lack of consciousness. Combined with the lower-than-normal body temperature Naru had noticed when he'd held her, all signs indicated that Mai was wending her way through another possession.

And then suddenly, the EEG quieted and Mai's brain activity dropped significantly. Naru felt a cold breeze flow through the room, and he head Madoka groan next to him as she reached for her bandaged head.

"What's happening?" Gregory asked nervously.

Naru snapped back into work mode with relish, regarding Mai with a professional eye and resolutely tamping down his personal concern. She remained completely unconscious and totally motionless. He watched as Madoka poked Mai hard in the side – nothing.

The master ghost hunter then lifted the arm unencumbered with electrodes and unceremoniously dropped it onto Mai's chest. Still no response. "She's astral projecting," Madoka confirmed.

Gregory looked awed. "That's amazing," he said, staring at the now-calmer readouts.

Lin looked back to the monitors. "I don't see anything unusual on the cameras," he noted. "She never seems to astral walk on this plane." The professor had wondered about _where_ exactly Mai went when she projected.

"But would Mai's spirit register the same way a ghost's does?" Madoka countered.

No one answered – though Naru didn't have to. Mai had almost certainly been pulled out of the possession by Gene. She wouldn't show up on camera because she was in the 'Realm of Lingering Spirits' with his idiot brother.

Lin noticed that his former charge looked troubled. "Judging from what happened the last time someone woke Taniyama-san up during a dream, I suggest we leave her be," he suggested.

Naru favored Lin with an irritated stare. Had admitting... _that_ to himself made his internal struggles so obvious?

"Taniyama-san wasn't hurt during any of her dreams on this case," Lin continued, trying to use logic to calm the frustrated researcher. "I don't think she'll be hurt if we let her sleep. And obviously, there is something about the case we're missing if she's dreaming again."

Naru could have smacked himself. Lin simply thought he was worried for Mai's safety.

And he probably _should_ be – Mai was always getting herself into trouble. Naru _should_ be considering all possibilities, instead of assuming Gene and Mai were off traipsing through the spirit plane together.

And yet.

Naru had been right about something – _that_ made a person foolish. It made you think stupid things, and swallowed up logic with irrational feelings.

And Naru _knew_ he was being an idiot, _knew_ that feeling _that_ for Mai was pointless. Mai had never met Gene in life, yet their spiritual connection was so strong that she found Gene in psychic dreams long before his own psychically connected brother could sense his presence.

An _idiot scientist_, Gene had labeled him. How right he was.

The scientist part of Naru knew feelings of _that_ nature for Mai were pointless.

The idiot part of Naru went and fell in love with her anyway.

-0O0-

A/N: I know. I know I know I know I know. I can't believe it, either. I feel like a total jerk for not updating. I just got kinda depressed over some stuff and totally lost the drive to do much of anything.

Then, oddly enough, my best friend and I were debating over our yearly trip together... and we decided to suck it up and spend way too money and go to London. The moment we booked the trip, I felt like my head broke the surface and I could do things like write again.

So yay. And I hope this chapter's realizations and UST make up for the long wait. Provided I don't get kicked off the night train to Scotland and get lost in the wilderness (something like that actually happened to passengers on the last night train I was on), I will update far more frequently.

You guys are the best readers ever.


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